As we are willing to have God remove our defects of character and shortcomings, we encounter the Gospel (with specifics)
Having admitted we were powerless and confessed our belief that God could restore us to sanity, we now make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we have come to know Him in Jesus.
Step 2 on the journey is to acknowledge that it is only God who can bring ultimate healing in our life. When our heart and mind is set on Jesus- on loving Jesus, knowing Jesus, worshipping Jesus we naturally have our back toward sin and temptation. We dont fight temptation by trying not to sin alone. We fight temptation by loving Jesus more!
As we near the end of Colossians, Paul brings us back to the Churchs foundations: a life rooted in prayer and to proclaim the good news of Jesus wherever we go.
Paul continues to redefine household codes with the Good News of Jesus. Even slaves and masters are now brothers because both are under the true master, Jesus Christ. The Gospel Rewrites Relationships.
The Gospel creates homes of grace. Pauls commands to kids and parents flow from our new identity in Christ. As we live new lives in Christ, our behavior and attitudes are transformed to look more like Jesus. Then our closest relationships can be places of encouragement, trust and grace.
Life in Christ peace, thankfulness, and the rich indwelling of the Word of Christ - comes when we let Jesus cook.
Life in Christ should look like life, and it should look like Christ. We are called to put to death the things that bring death for the sake of life.