Today we continue in our study of the epistle to the Colossians. And as a matter of context, I would remind you that Paul, in chapter three, began by speaking to those who have been saved, to those who have received new life in Christ, saying “since you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”
So from that we determined that since we have a new life in Christ as our representative, then our perspective on life should be spiritual, and not physical. We are to seek those things which come from above, and not the things which come from below. In other words, our focus should be on Christ and the things of Christ, and no longer should our focus be on the natural, the physical, the earthly. We should walk by the Spirit, and not according to the flesh.
Now of course, Paul is not advocating that we all go live in a monastery and remove ourself from all creature comforts and from society. No, we are to be in the world, but not of the world. Jesus said in John 17 that He sent his disciples into the world, but that they were not of the world, just as He was not of the world. So if we are not of the world, but we are in the world, then that means we must have a focus on the things of God and not on the things of this world.
And Paul said that the way in which we do that is that we must die to the world in vs 3; "For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Representatively, we died with Christ on the cross to our sins and the lusts of this world. But in practice we must die to the world as well. But our new life is not just some sort of ethereal, out of this world kind of existence, but the spiritual is to be applied to the natural, so that our doctrine is lived out physically. That which is spiritually true must be applied practically in our day to day life while on this earth.
Now to do that, you will remember that Paul gave a list of sinful behaviors which are indicative of this world, and he said that we must put those things to death. These are things which must be put off, or put to death. Remember we used the analogy of having taken a bath, and being washed, made clean by salvation, we must throw away or put away those filthy clothes which were representative of our old man, and put on new clothes of righteousness, by righteous living.
So last week we looked at the old behaviors, the old lifestyles which must be put off; and they were immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which Paul said amounts to idolatry. In addition to those, Paul said put these aside as well: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. And do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices.
At the new birth, we are born again spiritually. We receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ which gives life to our spirit. So now the mind and the body are to be under the rule of the Spirit within us. The Spirit within us dictates how our mind and body should function.
As a result, you are a new man, a new creation, old things are passed away, so lay aside the old self with it’s evil practices, and put on the new self, the new body and mind, which is being remade or renewed into the image of Jesus Christ. In other words, the new life of Christ is to be lived out in you physically. The old sins of the flesh have no business in this new self. So in keeping with who we are in Christ, let us put on the deeds of Christ. That’s what Paul talks about in Eph 2:10 saying, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
Notice then that Paul begins this section starting in vs 12 by saying, “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on…” We are chosen of God, holy and beloved. That’s a three fold expression of our salvation. We are God’s chosen people, foreordained before the creation of the world, elected unto salvation. God chose us to believe in Him and be saved.
We are holy - that is set apart from the world. We are different by design. God has established that we are not to be identified with the world, but to be identified with Christ. Set apart for good works. Set apart as a royal priesthood. Set apart as ambassadors for God. And beloved means we are loved as the children of God. We are His offspring. You love your children in a special way that’s hard to explain. It’s an unconditional love. An unfailing love. That’s the love we have from God when we are born of Him. Beloved by God. And so those descriptions define us as Christians. Because we are Christians, Paul says we are to put on certain things.
Now once again in our text Paul utilizes the analogy of clothing, put off the old, and put on the new clothing which we have in Christ. You know, we see less of it in fashion today in our society, but it used to be true that people wore uniforms according to the type of work they did. Men wore business suits, usually a grey pin stripe suit and tie, who worked in corporate business. Milkmen wore a white uniform. Postmen wore uniforms. Police, military, firemen still wear uniforms today. And their clothing helped identify who they were, or at least, what kind of work they did. Well, in the Christian life, Paul is saying, we should wear the kind of clothes that represents what we are, that identifies us with Christ, the clothes of rigtheousness.
The first article of our clothing we should put on according to vs 12 is compassion. This is a good example of how the KJV’s wording is a little difficult for people today. In the KJV, it reads bowels of mercy. We don’t use that expression today, thank goodness. If you spoke of bowels of mercy today, people might not know what you are trying to say, and quite possibly point you in the direction of the nearest bathroom. But bowels of mercy actually comes from a Hebraic expression which is best translated compassion. It’s similar to an expression which we still hear today sometimes, someone may say "I have a gut feeling about something.” It’s sort of an emotive response.
Compassion is related to a feeling of sympathy. We should put on sympathy and empathy for others. That means you feel what it’s like to be in their shoes. Jesus was often moved to compassion when He ministered to the people of His day and consequently fed them or healed them. He felt sympathy for them. He understood their dilemma, their fear, their concerns and His desire was to help them. Compassion should be a characteristic of the Christian. Not condemnation, not unconcern, but compassion. Especially compassion for the lost.
Secondly Paul says put on the garment of kindness. We shouldn’t need too much explanation of kindness. But I will say that kindness is the extension of compassion. Compassion should move you to kindness. You feel compassion so you act in kindness.
Thirdly, he says put on humility. Humility is the opposite of pride. Humility is the garment of a servant. Pride and arrogance acts for their own benefit, but the humble acts for another person’s benefit. Jesus was humble, so we should be humble. He came not to be served, but to serve. Phl. 2:5-8 says, "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, [and] being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Fourth characteristic we should be clothed with is meekness, or gentleness. I prefer the word meekness. Meekness is not weakness. A lot of times it’s presented as weakness. But it actually comes from a word associated with a horse, meaning strength under control. A horse is very powerful, but he is under the control of his rider. And so we should exhibit and practice meekness, strength under the control of our Master.
Then added to that list Paul gives patience, or forbearance. Forbearance or patience has to do with recognizing the weakness of another, but accepting it. Don’t get me wrong, Paul is not saying that we wink at sin. But it means that we recognize that we are all weak, we are all human, and not expecting perfection in someone else when you are not perfect yourself. In other words, don’t be quick to judge, don’t be quick to condemn, don’t be quick to retaliate. God is patient with us, is He not? I know He certainly is with me. They use the word forbearance sometimes in the loan business. You owe a debt, but the bank gives you a forbearance. It means that they will not collect that debt. When someone offends you or sins against you, you don’t collect. You don’t bring judgment upon them.
2Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” Patience is crucial to bringing someone to repentance.
The next attribute Paul gives is bearing with one another. It sounds like it might be similar to forbearance. Perhaps though this means bearing one another’s burdens. When you see a weakness in someone else, rather than condemn them for it and stand aloof from their problems, stoop to help them bear their burden. Paul says in Gal. 6:2 “Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.”
Next, Paul says put on the attribute of forgiveness. To forgive means to not bring up those things later on in some argument, bring that hurtful thing back out of the closet and use it against them. To forgive is to put the offense away. Many of us have been hurt by someone. Maybe it was your spouse. Maybe a loved one or a close friend hurt you. We are told to forgive them and not bring it back up again. That’s tough, I know. That doesn’t mean you have to be a door mat for the rest of your life and let them do it again and again. But it does mean you forgive them and not hold a grudge.
In Matt. 18:21-22 Peter said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” Forgive, even as Jesus forgave us. In vs 13 Paul says, “forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.” Has the Lord forgiven you of your sins? Then forgive others also.
Then in vs 14 Paul gives us the last thing to put on; “Beyond all these things [put on] love, which is the perfect bond of unity.” Some have said in looking at this verse that what Paul is getting at here is the idea of a belt or what they might have called a girdle. All of their undergarments and clothes would have been girded up with a belt. It tied everything together.
And that’s the superlative definition of love; it should be the motivation for all our behavior in this new life. Not a sentimental feeling towards others. Sentiment might be nice, but it’s not necessary. In fact, agape love is more likely to be what is expressed when it’s without sentiment. You may not even like someone, yet you can still love them with a Christian love. Love is charity. Love is sacrificial. And it’s a response of our salvation. We love because He first loved us. And so we should love others even when they are our enemies. Even when they attempt to crucify us. Love is a commitment, it’s a decision. Put on love.
Now that’s the last of the clothing we should put on in this new life. But there are a couple of other points that Paul makes concerning what we should put in. The first is found in vs 15; “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.” What that verse literally says is let the peace of Christ be the arbiter in your hearts. Now an arbiter is a person with the ultimate authority to settle a dispute. So what that indicates is that there is going to be a battle in your heart between the new nature and the old nature. The old nature is still there, but we are not under it’s authority anymore. We are supposed to be killing it off. But we don’t always do that.
There is the story of the missionary to an American Indian tribe, and there was an old man in the tribe who came one day to talk to the missionary about the difficulty he was having living this new life as a Christian. He said he was troubled by the spiritual conflict going on within his heart. He said he wanted to do what God wanted him to do, but found that he was frequently disobeying God. He found that he was prone to do evil things, even as he did before he became a Christian.
The old Indian described this conflict within himself as a dogfight. He said to the missionary, "It is as though I have a black dog and a white dog inside me fighting each other constantly." The black dog, he explained, represented evil and the white dog represented good.
The missionary asked him, "Which dog wins the fight within you?" After a few moments of silence, the old man said, "The dog that wins is the one I feed and the dog that loses is the one I starve.”
We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And as we submit to him as Lord, then we put to death the old man. He is our peace. He is the authority in our life. And submission to Him gives us victory over the old nature.
Paul adds to that peace, to be thankful. To have an attitude of gratitude. When we focus on what we have in Christ we should be thankful and that gives us joy and peace. But when we focus on what we think we are missing out on, then we find that the old nature rises up in jealousy for what we think we need. We need to remind ourselves to be thankful.
Then in vs 16, Paul says what else we should put in. “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms [and] hymns [and] spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
So the word of Christ is what we should put in this new man. This is so important. The word of Christ is the authority in our new life. It is the instruction manual for this new life. It is our comfort. It is the source of our power. It is our guide. I am reminded of Psalm 199:105 which says, “your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” If we are to walk by the Spirit in this new life, then we must walk by the word.
It’s very interesting to notice that in Ephesians we have almost the same wording as this verse and yet it is talking about being filled with the Spirit. But in Colossians it says let the word of Christ dwell in you. In this age of charismatic emphasis in the church, there is a tendency to think that someone filled with the Spirit is going to be speaking in ecstatic tongues or acting in some supernatural way. But the parallel between Colossians and Ephesians shows that the Spirit filled man is the man in whom dwells the word of Christ.
I want you to notice the correlation between these two texts. Turn to Ephesians 5:18-20 “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.”
You can see then as you compare this text with the Colossians 3 text the similarities. Even the structure of the verses are similar. And what that teaches is that the Spirit filled Christian is the word indwelled Christian. The Holy Spirit is the author of the word. So there is no distinction. Paul says that everything that we do in our meetings as a church, should be done with a view to instruction and admonishing and in the building up of the body. I would point out to you then that the purpose of singing is to teach doctrine. You can also make the argument from both of these texts that it seems to indicate that the giving of thanks is also the purpose of singing. And I will not dispute that with you. However, it does not necessarily mean that, but it could mean that.
But if you look at the Psalms for instance, you will find songs there which are very much thankful in nature, praising and extolling the virtues of the Lord. You can also find songs which extol and praise the virtues of the word. Psalm 119 for example, the longest chapter in the Bible, is all about the word of God.
But this idea that God is sitting around in heaven just wanting us to sing Him some praise songs is really a low perception of the character of God. God is not a narcissist. He doesn’t need us to repeat you are holy fifty times in a song in order to feel good about himself. I risk sounding blasphemous when I say this. But I really think that we do God a disservice in a lot of what we call praise music. God is not so concerned about what we say as what we do. We cannot give lip service to God, flattering Him and buttering Him up and then think we can go live the way we want. To obey is better than sacrifice.
So our teaching is to be the words of Christ. Our singing is to be the words of Christ. And all that we do is to be done to build up the body in Christ. So that we are conformed to the image of Christ.
So what we should put on, what we need to put in, and then finally, what we need to put out. Our lives should be an outworking of the Spirit of Christ within us. Vs.16, “Whatever you do in word or deed, [do] all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” What Paul seems to do here is move from the specific to the general, giving as a final word the sweeping statement that whatever you do, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. The whole wide arena of life, the whole of the outward life, is to be done under that authority, and under the approval of the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord.
I read a story by Dr. Henry Ironside which I will tell in closing that hopefully will illustrate this principle. He said; “When I was a boy, I felt it was both a duty and a privilege to help my widowed mother make ends meet by finding employment in vacation time, on Saturdays and other times when I did not have to be in school. For quite a while I worked for a Scottish shoemaker, or “cobbler,” as he preferred to be called, an Orkney man, named Dan Mackay. He was a forthright Christian and his little shop was a real testimony for Christ in the neighborhood. The walls were literally covered with Bible texts and pictures, generally taken from old-fashioned Scripture Sheet Almanacs, so that look where one would, he found the Word of God staring him in the face. On the little counter in front of the bench on which the owner of the shop sat, was a Bible, generally open, and a pile of gospel tracts. No package went out of that shop without a printed message wrapped inside. And whenever opportunity offered, the customers were spoken to kindly and tactfully about the importance of being born again and the blessedness of knowing that the soul is saved through faith in Christ. Many came back to ask for more literature or to inquire more particularly as to how they might find peace with God, with the blessed results that men and women were saved, frequently right in the shoe shop.
It was my chief responsibility to pound leather for shoe soles. A piece of cowhide would be cut to suit, then soaked in water. I had a flat piece of iron over my knees and, with a flat-headed hammer, I pounded these soles until they were hard and dry. It seemed an endless operation to me, and I wearied of it many times.
What made my task worse was the fact that, a block away, there was another shop that I passed going and coming to or from my home, and in it sat a jolly, godless cobbler who gathered the boys of the neighborhood about him and regaled them with lewd tales that made him dreaded by respectable parents as a menace to the community. Yet, somehow, he seemed to thrive and that perhaps to a greater extent than my employer, Mackay. As I looked in his window, I often noticed that he never pounded the soles at all, but took them from the water, nailed them on, damp as they were, and with the water splashing from them as he drove each nail in.
One day I ventured inside, something I had been warned never to do. Timidly, I said, “I notice you put the soles on while still wet. Are they just as good as if they were pounded?” He gave me a wicked leer as he answered, “They come back all the quicker this way, my boy!”
“Feeling I had learned something, I related the instance to my boss and suggested that I was perhaps wasting time in drying out the leather so carefully. Mr. Mackay stopped his work and opened his Bible to the passage that reads, “Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
“Harry,” he said, “I do not cobble shoes just for the four bits and six bits that I get from my customers. I am doing this for the glory of God. I expect to see every shoe I have ever repaired in a big pile at the judgment seat of Christ, and I do not want the Lord to say to me in that day, ‘Dan, this was a poor job. You did not do your best here.’ I want Him to be able to say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’“
Then he went on to explain that just as some men are called to preach, so he was called to fix shoes, and that only as he did this well would his testimony count for God. It was a lesson I have never been able to forget. Often when I have been tempted to carelessness, and to slipshod effort, I have thought of that dear, devoted cobbler, and it has stirred me up to seek to do all as for Him who died to redeem me.”
Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
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