It begins, "If ye then be risen with Christ." Now that does not mean
that St. Paul had any doubt whether the Colossians, to whom he was
speaking, were risen with Christ or not. He does not mean, "I am not
sure whether you are risen or not; but perhaps you are not; but if
you are, you ought to do such and such things." He does not mean
that. He was quite sure that these Colossians were risen with
Christ. He had no doubt of it whatsoever. If you look at the
chapter before, he says so. He tells them that they were buried with
Christ in baptism, in which also they were risen with Christ, through
faith of the operation of God, who has raised Him from the dead.

Now what reason had St. Paul to believe that these Colossians were
risen with Jesus Christ? Because they had given up sin and were
leading holy lives? That cannot be. The Epistle for this day says
the very opposite. It does not say, "You are risen, because you have
left off sinning." It says, "You must leave off sinning, because you
are risen." Was it then on account of any experiences, or inward
feeling of theirs? Not at all. He says that these Colossians had
been baptized, and that they had believed in God's work of raising
Jesus Christ from the dead, and that therefore they were risen with
Christ. In one word, they had believed the message of Easter-day,
and therefore they shared in the blessings of Easter-day; as it is
written in another place, "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the
Lord Jesus Christ, and believe in thy heart that God has raised Him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

Now these seem very wide words, too wide to please most people. But
there are wider words still in St. Paul's epistles. He tells us
again and again that God's mercy is a free gift; that He has made to
us a free present of His Son Jesus Christ. That He has taken away