Sermon video coming soon – Click here to view full service recording.
Colossians 3:17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
Jonathan Edwards lived from 1703 to 1758. He died of small pox at just 54 years old. He is most famous for his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Edwards became the pastor of a church in North Hampton, Massachusetts, but while in his late teens he temporarily pastored a church in New York City. During this time he wrote down seventy resolutions to help him honor Christ in every area of his life.
Here are just a couple:
7. Resolved, never to do anything which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life.
This one’s for you young guys:
46. Resolved, never to allow the least measure of any fretting uneasiness (irritated) at my father or mother.
There are seventy of them, and each worth pondering. But let’s be clear, no one goes to heaven by resolving to be a better person. Spurgeon quipped, “You might sooner sail to America across the Atlantic on a serrated leaf, than float to heaven on a resolution.” The only way to heaven is to put your trust in Jesus Christ alone as your Lord and Savior. God commands all men everywhere to repent and come to Christ. Hopefully you have done this.
A Biblical Resolution
But right here in Colossians 3:17 we have a biblical resolution for believers.
Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
Before we unpack this resolution and see how it applies to your life, let’s remember how Christ rules His people. He doesn’t give you a list of burdensome rules to govern every area of your life. Some people wish He did. Clement of Alexandria was an early church leader in the second century. In a work called The Instructor, Book II, he gave detailed rules of conduct for Christians like what color shoes to wear, how to eat at a banquet, how to sneeze and hiccup, when to spit or not spit, whether or not to wear cologne and perfume, what kinds of haircuts men should have. For example, he wrote, “If sneezing, don’t startle those near him with the explosion and so give proof of his bad breeding.” “Frequent spitting, too, and violent clearing of the throat, and wiping ones nose at an entertainment, are to be shunned.”
Well, we’re glad Clement didn’t write Colossians. Rather than giving us a list of rules, Paul points us to the Person of Christ who loved us and gave Himself for us and asks, “How can I please Him?” Rules are good and necessary for us sinners, but, for example, when you love your wife, you don’t need to be told not to flirt with other women.
When our sons were young I built for them an 8 ft. x 8 ft. sandbox right in the middle of our backyard. We had a fence around our property. A fence serves as protection, but I remember watching them playing with their matchbox cars in the sand box, heads down, intent on making roads or mountains in the sand. They were having so much fun in that sandbox they had no thoughts concerning the fence surrounding the yard designed as a boundary for their protection.
Fences are good, but if you know and love Christ, you don’t need a long list of rules. Paul’s Christianity was a passion for a Person: That Christ may be magnified in my body and that I may know Christ. For me to live is Christ, to die is gain. I’ve been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. We make it our goal to be pleasing to Him. Christianity is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ is your life. When you know and love Christ, you want to please Him, and that’s what our simple but comprehensive resolution in verse 17 is all about. “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” There are four resolves here for you to apply to your life with all diligence.
Resolved: That all of your life shall be lived under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
“Whatever you do…do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” “Whatever” and “all” mean there is no separation between the sacred and secular in your life. You aren’t two people, a Christian on Sunday mornings and someone else the rest of the week. Many live two lives, don’t they? They wear a halo on Sunday, but by Monday it’s slipped off. If you took sacred wedding vows, when are you married? “In my house, but when I leave, then I’m not married.” Ridiculous!
The same is true about you as a Christian. “Whatever…all” means everything. Everything in your life is sacred. In the Millennium “Holy to the Lord” will be engraved on the horses’ bridles. Even the cooking pots will be holy (Zechariah 14:20-21). As a Christian, you don’t have a secular job. Your job is sacred no matter what you do. You may be a sanitation engineer (garbage collector) or the CEO of a multimillion dollar business – these are sacred callings. Do you work over a keyboard all day, paint walls, fix or drive trucks, fix people – doctor, dentist, brain surgeon? “Whatever you do…do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Every relationship in your life is under the Lordship of Christ. Look at verse 18 in Colossians 3. Wives, be subject to your husbands. Why? As is fitting in the Lord. Verse 20, Children, obey your parents. Why? Because this is pleasing to the Lord. Verse 23, Employees, work heartily. Why? You’re serving the Lord. Isn’t this good? “If you love Me,” Jesus said, “you’ll keep My commandments.”
Jesus is interested and involved in everything in your life. This becomes the most compelling and morally determining principle in the Bible. Christ is right there with you on Tuesday afternoons as you’re wrapping up that sale or talking with that customer or applying that stain or cleaning that house or teaching those students or being a student, whatever you do! Everything you do has meaning for eternity. I worked for a builder painting and staining doors and trim. I kept this nail set to remind me that everything I do was sacred, even tapping nails into trim. Changing that dirty diaper has eternity etched in it for the believer! Change it with care and love, in the name of the Lord Jesus!
Resolved: To seek to honor Christ with your words and deeds.
“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Christ rules your words and deeds. They both carry eternity in them. They count for Jesus. They are tools to witness for Christ in this world. Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Watch your words! James says the tongue can be a flame-thrower from hell. You can rip people to shreds with your pitch-fork tongue. David prayed, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight” (Psalm 19:14). Ask Christ to harness your tongue. It’s a powerful, slippery muscle. On the other hand, think of all the good, all the blessing and joy accomplished with words. Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”
What about your deeds? This is not complicated. That includes all you do. How you care for yourself, help others (including your wife), drive your car, read your Bible, work, worship, rear your children, pay your bills, keep a good reputation in this world. “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus!” There was Joseph in Potiphar’s house, and then in prison, and then in Pharaoh’s court! He lived in God’s presence and spoke and did what he knew pleased his Lord!
Resolved: To do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.
This is huge. As a believer you are living under the identity and authority of the Lord Jesus. That’s what “in the name of” means. It’s not about my identity, my rules, what makes me happy. It’s not how I choose to identify myself. It’s not about me. I died. For the believer, Christ is your life; you’re not your own. You’ve been bought with a price. He is your identity. Do all in His name, for His glory.
1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
This “all” means I shouldn’t say or do anything that I couldn’t ask Christ to stamp His name on. When you are uncertain about a decision or something you are thinking about, sincerely talk to God and ask, “Lord, would you be pleased with this? Would this reflect your name, your character, your grace, your love, your holiness?”
This doesn’t mean you are living in some kind of tight legalistic bondage. Just the opposite. This is the way of freedom and joy. “If you continue in My Word, you’ll know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). Jesus isn’t a hard Master. His yoke is gentle; His burden light. And it’s not about what other people think of you. You may suffer for this identity in Christ, but that’s what the Bible says will happen in this world.
Let’s see how living in the name of Christ and under His authority works out in your life in a practical way in our culture today.
First the negatives.
Will you vote for someone who favors the slaughter of infants in the womb in the name of Jesus?
Will you charge all white heterosexual Christian males as racists in the name of the Lord Jesus and give thanks to God?
Will you show prejudice against people of different ethnicities in the name of the Lord Jesus?
Will you legitimize and celebrate gender perversions and same sex marriage in the name of the Lord Jesus and give thanks to God?
Will you watch pornographic videos in the name of the Lord Jesus?
Will you deny certain truths of the Bible in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God?
Will you reject Genesis 1-2 about the six day creation and Revelation 20 about the lake of fire in the name of the Lord Jesus?
Will you protest that the government should pay all your student loans in the name of the Lord Jesus?
Will you post a nasty meme or picture on FB in the name of the Lord Jesus?
Let’s go to the positive. Christ is your identity. He is your authority. What does doing all in His name mean?
You will speak the truth and reject lies and false teaching in the name of Jesus.
You will talk about the gospel in the name of Jesus.
You will worship and sing in the name of the Lord Jesus.
You will use words to encourage and edify others in the name of the Lord Jesus.
You will love your spouse and treat her or him well in the name of the Lord Jesus.
You will attend a Bible teaching, God honoring church in the name of the Lord Jesus.
You will be committed to the solas of the Reformation in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ – Scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, the glory of God alone.
You will invest time feeding on Scriptures and good books that help you grow in the name of the Lord Jesus.
You will rejoice and delight in God’s creation, recreating, studying the glorious works of Christ in this world and universe in the name of Jesus Christ giving thanks to God the Father. By the way, did you know your stomach produces a new lining every 3-4 days? God designed it that way so your stomach acids don’t destroy it!
You will work hard to excel in your studies and your work in the name of the Lord Jesus.
You will use discernment and wisdom in what you watch on TV or online or movies in the name of the Lord Jesus!
Spurgeon summarized this well: “If you cannot do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, do not do it at all if you are a Christian.” Resolve to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus!
Resolved: To give thanks through Jesus to God the Father.
Paul calls us to give thanks seven times in this brief letter. Col. 2:7 – overflowing with thanksgiving; 3:15 – be thankful; 3:16 – sing with thankfulness. And here in verse 17, give thanks! With Christ as your identity and authority, saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, chosen by divine grace in eternity past, given a new heart to repent and believe the gospel with the hope of eternal joy in the presence of God, we should overflow with thanksgiving, singing with thankfulness to God. There is no room for grumbling when you know God is sovereign over your life and allows only that which is good for you to come into your life (Romans 8:28).
Romans 1:21 says one of the wrath-deserving sins against God is ingratitude. “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
Give thanks through Jesus to God the Father. Gratitude is the only possible response to God’s grace. We don’t deserve a bit of this. All we can say is “Thank you Father for sending your Son to rescue me from my depravity and my sin.”
Jonathan Edwards wrote out 70 resolutions in his youth and I’m sure they were helpful to guide him through his life. Clement of Alexandria gave rules all the way down to how to spit and what color shoes to wear. God has given you here in Colossians a simple biblical resolution to take with you Monday through Sunday. Memorize it and do it.
Colossians 3:17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
If you don’t have a genuine relationship with Christ, come to Him today. Peter said in Acts 4:12:
And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.
And Paul wrote that at a point in time everyone will bow down to the name of the Lord Jesus.
Philippians 2:10-11, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.