Col 3:1-3 If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 
And verses 9-17 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 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 — a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. 
 	This week, and next, Lord willing, we will consider a key aspect of Colossians, Chapters 3+4, as it concerns the Church. As with all scripture, this has been a challenging opportunity in seeking after that which God has for us, His Church. In line with our prayers unto the Lord, I was led to an article that truly caused me to stop and consider the aspects of being the Church as delineated in Colossians. The article is Holy to the Core by Joel Scandrett, PH.D., at Drew University, who is associate editor of reference and academic books at Intervarsity Press. In earnest prayer before the Lord, with Colossians as our basis, let us consider a few aspects with regard to holiness and the Church. We will look at the Church and holiness on a scriptural basis with reference to Dr. Scandrett’s article as part of the framework of our consideration. 
The Church today needs to come into a better understanding of what it means to live by Christ. There is the increasing attitude that holiness is a personal choice of pure behavior. While there is that moral aspect involved with holiness, the Biblical idea of holiness, which includes individual morality, encompasses the very life of God within us, as members of the Church.
Lev 11:44+45 'For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. 'For I am the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; thus you shall be holy for I am holy.'" This is the call to the people of God to be separated, set apart, and dedicated unto God.
	As a consequential part of that dedication of the members of the people of God unto Him, we find that our individual lives are, as well, affected by this call to holiness. 1 Peter 1:14-16 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." This takes place, not because we are capable of practicing perfect, moral behavior with our own efforts, but because we are indwelled by the very person of perfection and holiness, the Lord Jesus Christ. The holiness of our lives is not because of us, it is because of God indwelling us, our union, our becoming dead to self and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Lev 26:11+12 'Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you. 'I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. 
	And, in Heb 8:8-12, … "Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, When I will effect a new covenant  With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers  On the day when I took them by the hand  To lead them out of the land of Egypt; For they did not continue in My covenant, And I did not care for them, says the Lord. "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And I will write them upon their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people. "And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, And everyone his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' For all shall know Me, From the least to the greatest of them. "For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more." Our holiness has its basis in the fact that we now intimately know God and are made, in Christ, the very members of His family, of His Beloved, of His Church in which there can be nothing other than His holiness.
So often, we, as the Church and as individuals, get caught up in the idea that what we do is the basis of holiness. Do the right things, and we are considered holy, because we think that true holiness is set upon our actions. However, that is not the case! We are now holy because we are now indwelled by the holiness of God. This is a life, not just an action. Holiness involves far more than our outward activities. It is by the very fact that we now belong to Christ that we are holy because He is our holiness. Gal 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me. 
As a result of the reality that holiness is predicated on Christ in us and not we, ourselves, we should be finding that there are certain things that no longer are part of our walk on this earth. Those things are elements that continue to point a focus on us, rather than Christ. We should no longer have to ask whether something we are doing or want to do is right or wrong. There should be that inner awareness, that of the Holy Spirit, which becomes an instinctive gauge of the path of our lives. As we recognize and live in this truth, this reality of whose we are, we will find that we become less focused on our actions, and evermore focused on God and His glory. Rather than trying to find a way to satisfy our selves, we will do only that which pleases the Father. 
If we honestly look at those times when we tried to make a decision, we will note that we were mostly trying to manufacture some excuse to get what we wanted, when we already knew what God wanted. As our awareness of His Holiness becomes evermore alive in us, aspects of behavior and attitude will lose all conscious endeavor and our lives will simply become reflective of the One who indwells us. We will live lives that show forth God’s holiness because our lives are completely unto Him in every respect.
This is a unique relationship that God desires and has established with His people. It is the very life that we live in Christ. It is the out flowing of the work of the Holy Spirit to reveal the holiness that is now our life in Christ. Because we are united with Christ, in and through the Holy Spirit, we are holy.
As we read in our opening text this morning, If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. 
	In Eph 2:4-7, the Apostle Paul writes But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 
	In Christ, we now live in the very life and holiness of God. He dwells in us, and we dwell in Him. We are told this by Christ, in what we term the High Priestly Prayer. John 17:20-23,  "I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me. "And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me. 
Because He so loved us, we now love Him, 1 John 4:19 We love, because He first loved us. He is the very embodiment of love, and in that love, our hearts learn to respond with the intense longing to express our love in the lives that we live. As such, we long for the holiness that indwells us to be expressed. Our heart’s desire, in our manifestation of love unto God, is to live the holiness of Christ, Who is in alive in us. Again, this is a response to the love of God. Since God is Holy, and since we love God, we desire to be the living testament of holiness unto His glory. 
Please note the vast difference of the focus of holiness that is in Christ. So often, we make ourselves the target and the means of holiness. Rather, holiness is from God and unto God as the absolute result of God’s life in us. There is nothing of our natural man, our natural desires that lends itself to this. That is why our self lives must be put to death, in order that Christ is preeminent in our hearts. Our holiness only exists because of God’s grace, God’s love, God’s life. Holiness is God’s doing, not ours, and He is the focus of the glory of that Holiness, not us.
Because of our holy relationship with God in Christ, we are enabled to respond to Him in holiness of being. Listen to the Apostle Paul as he calls forth that response from the readers of his epistles. Eph 4:1-3, I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.     
Rom 12:1+2 I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. 
	And in Phil 2:12+13, So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. 
	As Dr. Scandrett states, The purpose of God’s saving work in Christ is to free us to live out the holiness we already enjoy in Him. By virtue of God’s gracious initiative and through union with Christ, we participate in God’s holiness in a way that transforms our lives and manifests God’s grace. End of quote.
    	As we read in Eph 2:8-10, For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. 
	As should be evident, true holiness is so much more than mere morality. It is not set in notions of doing and not doing certain things. It is not in forcing ourselves to obey rules in a legalistic manner. It is the life that we live, a life that shows forth Whose we are, Who we love with all our heart, and Who we serve with unwavering loyalty. God’s call to be holy is a radical, all-encompassing claim on our lives, our loves, and our very identities. Christ proclaimed what it means to live lives that are holy unto God in Mark 8:34-36, And He summoned the multitude with His disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. "For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's shall save it. "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? 
	Once again, quoting Scandrett, At its most basic, holiness is the grateful submission to God’s claim on our entire lives – to accept that our lives are not our own…To be holy means that all we are and all we have belongs to God, not ourselves, and that every aspect of our lives is to be shaped and directed toward God…Every level of our lives as disciples of Jesus – our money, our possessions, our time, our relationships, our work, our entertainment, our diet, our sexuality – in all these areas and more, God’s call to holiness confronts the abysmal narcissism of mainstream American culture…End of quote.
	Today, there are many Christians who see Jesus not as the center of our lives, but as a means to make our lives better, richer, happier, more satisfying. We use Jesus to bolster our own self-worth and sense of well-being. This self-centered focus is firmly fixed on what God can do for us. What utter disregard and disrespect this shows toward God, toward Christ, toward the Holy Spirit, and toward His Word of Life! Rather than this deceit of entitlement, our lives are to be unto Him in every respect. Our thoughts, our goals, our concerns, our everything, are to be centered in the tried and true core of our lives, Jesus. 
	In line with this, the Church has a tremendous role, both as the corporate body of Christ and as the very means of our learning process of what it means to be holy. God’s call has always been to a people, not isolated individuals. As there is a response to the call of God, there is developed within us a need for fellowship. It is a need for being in communion with our brothers and sisters in the unity of Christ as the fulfillment of that which is the precise heart of God. As we read in our text, verses 10+11, 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 — a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. We are now made one with each other as we are made one with God in Christ. We are a new creation in Christ, and this affects, not only our relationship with God, but with each other. We are united in Christ, no longer distinct unto ourselves, but joined into an entirely new humanity. We enjoy the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, as we read in Eph 4:3. We are born of the Spirit, and in that new birth, we are recipients of the new nature of Christ’s holiness in which He is our life, and we are His church, His Body on this earth. 
This bodily relationship sets aside our earthly cultural and ethnical divisions and makes us part of the fellowship of saints. As such, we are called to commit and to submit to Christ. Many of us talk about the commitment we made to the Lord in our new birth as Christians, while, at the same time, trying to hold onto the vestiges of that old nature, which no longer has any claim in us. This is because we do not realize that in that commitment to Christ, we are committed to His Body, all the saints of God’s choosing. When this is understood, one receives a new reality in terms of what God has truly accomplished in the creation of the Church. It is an intense and very literal, spiritual unity in Christ that is very accurately described as a body relationship.
We are joined into the one new humanity that is after the heart of God. We are seen, by God, not in our separate, and individual capacities, but in the reality of the single body with Christ as the head of all. That requires an attitude of utter submission unto Him, body, mind, soul, spirit, emotions, thoughts, and desires, all focused on what pleases the Father, period. That is because our head, Jesus Christ, can do nothing other than what pleases the Father, and the Body can do nothing other than what Christ, our Head, instructs us to do. In this utter submission to Christ, the Church becomes, as Scandrett states, God’s crucible and matrix for forming holy lives in many ways: End of Quote.
	First and foremost, there is no such thing as love for God that does not include God’s people. As we love God, so do we love all the members of the Body. 1 John 4:20+21 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. We cannot treat one another in any other manner than love, especially in the hidden depths of our hearts where animosity, jealously, judgment, and unforgiveness seek futile refuge. God knows our heart and He plumbs it with the Holy Spirit and with His Word to draw forth and eradicate anything other than Christ in our dealings with one another. That happens within the heart of the Church, you and me, as we are one in Christ.
	Next week, Lord willing, we will continue with the fourth chapter of Colossians and with the reality of what it means to be the Body of Christ, the Church, in vital union with Him and with each other in Him. God has a tremendous plan in place for His new creation, a plan that incorporates all the benevolence, love, grace and glory of Christ into the one Body. Let us always live our lives with the view of what God has established with the life, death, resurrection, and glorification of His Only Begotten Son. He is all the fullness of God, and we are made a part of that fullness as we are His Body, His Church, His Beloved Bride for all eternity. Amen
If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Amen

Our benediction this morning is Jude 24+25, Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.