April 12, 2026 | Take Off Your Grave Clothes! | Pastor Jim Kilmartin | Sunday Service | Rock City

Colossians and Galatians shape a clear call to radical conversion: die to the old self, refuse its habits, and live by Christ’s life. The text begins with praise and worship and moves into an urgent invitation to yield—abandon attempts to earn righteousness by ritual or self-effort and instead accept the finished work of Christ. Scripture insists that being “raised with Christ” demands concrete change: discard the grave clothes of anger, lust, deceit, and idolatry, and actively put those members to death so they cannot reclaim the heart.

The passage reorients identity around divine workmanship and mission. Believers stand as God’s craftsmanship, created for good works prepared beforehand; those works compel ongoing discipleship, community care, and evangelistic fruit. Practical holiness flows from an inward transformation: the Spirit, not moral effort alone, crucifies the flesh and empowers obedience, speech, and love. The text requires disciplined mind renewal—set thoughts on heavenly things—so the word of Christ dwells richly and issues into worship, teaching, and mutual admonition.

Ethics follow ontology: once the old self is mortified, the new self must be clothed. Tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and above all love become the family likeness. Peace rules the heart when secret sin dies and the word controls the imagination. Finally, every action—private or public—receives weight when done “in the name of the Lord Jesus”: that phrase reframes ordinary work as sacred stewardship under Christ’s delegated authority. The call ends with a summons to live by faith in the Son who loved and gave himself—an embodied faith that transforms marriage, parenting, labor, and public witness into occasions of worship.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Identity reshaped by Christ's workmanship The text locates worth and purpose in being God’s workmanship, not in performance or social status. This shifts ambition from self-exaltation to faithful service: gifts and resources become tools for the good works God prepared beforehand. Remembering this stabilizes the heart amid failure and fuels patient obedience toward a long-term calling. [61:53]
• 2. Crucify the flesh by Spirit Moral striving cannot mortify the flesh; the Spirit effects that death. True holiness results when the law’s condemnation drives the soul to depend on Christ’s life within, not on personal willpower. That dependence produces power to resist recurring sins and to change patterns that intellect alone cannot break. [85:30]
• 3. Remove the grave clothes now Leaving death behind requires decisive, lived choices—don’t let old habits linger as hidden garments. Unforgiveness, wrath, and secret sin act like burial cloths that still bind; cast them off publicly and repeatedly until they no longer claim authority. This tangible renunciation prepares the way for visible transformation and peace. [75:06]
• 4. Put on Christlike virtues daily The new identity proves itself by clothing the soul with mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, and forgiveness. These virtues are not optional adornments but the visible form of Christ’s life in community and family. Practicing them daily trains the heart to love as a deliberate commitment, not merely a feeling. [94:41]
• 5. Live by faith in Christ The believer’s present life answers to Galatians’ summons: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Faith becomes the operating principle for everyday decisions, transforming work, relationships, and suffering into participation in Christ’s mission. This faith both secures identity and motivates holy action in the present. [106:55]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [28:49] - Opening Worship and Invocation
• [40:06] - Invitation to Surrender and Prayer
• [42:22] - Church Announcements & Community Needs
• [61:53] - Identity: Created for Good Works (Ephesians 2:10)
• [75:06] - Raised with Christ: Take Off Grave Clothes (Colossians 3)
• [85:30] - Crucify the Flesh Through the Spirit
• [94:41] - Put On Tender Mercies and Love
• [106:55] - Live by Faith in the Son (Galatians 2:20)
• [122:07] - Practical Living, Closing Charge, and Prayer

Bible reading
Colossians 3:1-17 (NKJV)
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 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. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)
I have been crucified with Christ; 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 gave Himself for me.

Observation questions

1. According to Colossians 3:5, what specific "members" or parts of our old life are we instructed to "put to death"?
2. What are the "grave clothes" or old habits listed in Colossians 3:8 that we are told to "put off"?
3. What are the new virtues listed in Colossians 3:12-14 that we are to actively "put on"?
4. What does it mean, according to the passage, to "let the peace of God rule in your hearts" (Colossians 3:15) and to "let the word of Christ dwell in you richly" (Colossians 3:16)?

Interpretation questions

1. The phrase "if then you were raised with Christ" (Colossians 3:1) implies a prior event. What does it mean to be "raised with Christ," and why is this the necessary starting point for everything that follows in the chapter?
2. Colossians 3:5 says to "put to death your members," yet the sermon emphasized that this cannot be done by human willpower alone [25:30]. How does the role of the Holy Spirit make this command possible, and what is the danger of trying to do it in our own strength?
3. The command to "do all in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Colossians 3:17) is a summary of the chapter. What does it mean to do everyday tasks, like work or parenting, "in the name of the Lord Jesus," and how does this change their purpose?
4. How does the truth of Galatians 2:20—"it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me"—provide the power and motivation to follow the practical instructions given in Colossians 3?

Application questions

1. Identity is reshaped by being God's workmanship, not by performance or social status [01:01:53]. What is one area of your life (work, family, social circles) where you are most tempted to find your worth in what you do rather than in who God says you are? How can you actively remember your identity in Christ this week?
2. Leaving death behind requires decisive choices to not let old habits linger as hidden garments [01:15:06]. Is there a specific "grave cloth" like anger, a critical spirit, or a secret sin that you have been tolerating? What is one practical step you can take this week to "cast it off" and make your transformation visible?
3. The new identity proves itself by clothing the soul with mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, and forgiveness [01:34:41]. Which of these virtues feels most difficult for you to "put on" in your home or workplace? Choose one to focus on this week. What would it look like to deliberately practice it in a specific relationship?
4. The life we now live in the flesh is to be lived by faith in the Son of God [01:46:55]. How does faith, rather than just rule-following, become the operating principle for your everyday decisions? Share a recent decision (big or small) where you acted out of faith in Christ's life in you versus your own understanding or effort.
5. When you have secret sin, you can never live in peace because you always are worried that it will find you out [52:02]. Does this statement resonate with an area of your life? What would it look like to bring that into the light through confession, either to God or a trusted believer, to experience the peace of God ruling in your heart?
6. Doing everything in word or deed in the name of the Lord Jesus reframes ordinary work as sacred stewardship [01:57:54]. What is one mundane or frustrating task you will face this week? How can you consciously do it "in the name of the Lord Jesus," transforming it into an act of worship?