Commitment to God results in the NEW SELF! (Colossians 3)

RAISED UP? From what?

Col 2:12-13

Rom 6:1-14

- Do you walk in the light or in darkness?

- Do you love God the Father?

- Do you love other Christians?

- Do you have the testimony of the Spirit that you are children of God?

- Are you persevering in the faith?

(Thabiti Anyabwile - What Is A Healthy Church Member?)

Ex 20:3, John 17:3

“It is so easy to get religious instead of godly. And all the while, a chilling religion slowly cools our hearts. Ironic, isn’t it? ” -Swindoll

Healthy Commitment manifests as a COMPREHENSIVE DEVOTION.

(Keith Green excerpt from Devotions? or Devotion)

Devotion does not consist of individual acts or exercises of any kind. These may indeed be devotional acts, that is, "acts of devotion," but let it be remembered that no acts or exercises in themselves constitute devotion.

Devotion is that state of the will in which the mind is swallowed up in God as the object of its supreme affection - in which we not only live and move in God but for God.

Healthy Commitment to God STACKS THE DECK FOR US TO CONFORM TO HIS IMAGE

- Love (1 John 4:13-21)

- Sacrifice (1 John 3:16)

Healthy Commitment to God STACKS THE DECK FOR YOU TO CONFORM TO HIS IMAGE.

- LOVE 1 John 4:13-21

- SACRIFICE 1 John 3:16

ROMANS 12:1-2 (PHILLIPS)

“With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.”

- is really for the TRULY CONVERTED - raised from death to life, in Christ

- results in COMPREHENSIVE DEVOTION (foundational to everything, not just priority shifting)

- stacks the deck for you to CONFORM TO HIS IMAGE with a new definition of LOVE & SACRIFICE