One of the things that we always do around this time of year is pack up our children’s winter clothes and neatly stow them in a marked container in our basement (when I say “we” I mean my wife…so thankful for her and all she does). We do this to help make room for our kid's warm-weather clothes. As for the jackets, sweaters, long-sleeves, etc., we put these out of sight until the next appropriate season, knowing that we won’t be putting these on for a while. This exercise recently had me thinking about a principle found in Colossians 3:1-11. The idea of putting on and taking off the right things for the right season is witnessed in this text in connection with salvation in Jesus Christ. Given that believers have left a season of sin and death and have entered a new season of righteousness and life, they ought to be dressed accordingly. This, in part, is Paul’s message to the church of Colossae and I believe it is the message that God would have us hear, understand, and apply today.
1. INSTRUCTION #1: Put on the New Self-3:1-4
Colossians 3 marks a major pivot in Paul’s letter to the
church in Colossae. It is here where Paul shifts from theology to practicality
(orthodoxy to orthopraxy). Having established Jesus Christ as sufficient for
salvation, Paul now describes what salvation ought to look like as it is applied
in the lives of believers. This major transition is indicated by the opening of
verse 1—“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the
things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (3:1). There
are several very important elements of this verse worthy of special
consideration. First, the basis of the Christian life is highlighted—"if
you have been raised up with Christ” (3:1a). The verb used here actually
translates to “if you have been made alive together with Christ” and calls to
mind the intimate association the believer has with Jesus’ resurrection.
Though a believer was made alive together with Christ at the
moment of conversion and this was assured even earlier when Jesus himself was
resurrected 2000 years ago, such a state (“having been raised”) ought to suffer
present and ongoing implications. In other words, as those made alive together
with Christ from the dead, believers ought to evidence that a dramatic
transformation has, in fact, taken place.
One such evidence of being made alive with Christ is seeking
Christ—“keep seeking the things above, ,…” (3:1b). This implies a relentless
pursuit of a Christ-centered life and experience that has one looking up. After
all, as Paul reminds the church, up is “where Christ is, seated at the right
hand of God.” At present Christ is in the Father’s presence, pleading the
believer’s case before Almighty God (1 John 2:1). He does this from a seated
position because his work of sacrifice, satisfaction, and salvation is
completed (Hebrews 8). Those who have been made alive from the dead in Christ would
do well to live as those who know they have an advocate before the Father and
that everything that is required to be made right with him has been
accomplished by their perfect Savior. This is what is meant by “seeking the
things above.” Such a person can walk confidently and humbly as they are about
the things that really matter—the mission of God.
Running parallel to this idea of seeking things above
(namely Christ), is another command and evidence of a life in Christ—“set your
mind on things above, not on the things that are on the earth” (3:2). While
similar to Paul’s first admonition, this encouragement uses a different word
for the pursuit that is in view—“set your mind.” This verb is concerned more
with “giving serious consideration to something” or “to ponder” (Louw &
Nida). This appears to be more of a mental exercise than a spiritual exercise
(though, to be sure, they are more connected than they are separate).
Believers do the mission of God a real disservice by preoccupying themselves exclusively with what is going on around them. For many,
it has become second-nature to doom scroll through their social media feeds for
hours every day, absorbing every report of bad news along with every friend’s
personal commentary. In other cases, people do not hesitate to plop themselves
in front of the television, phone, or iPad in an attempt to “escape” the
drudgery/anger/vitriol, however, even there, more often than not, they subject themselves
to more dramatic, radical, and shocking versions of the reality witnessed
around them. Too many trade joy for entertainment and peace for a futile
pursuit of “always being in the know.” Paul suggests there is a better way for
God’s people to live—a life that is mentally preoccupied with things above.
Perhaps this is why elsewhere he says, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever
is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is
lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think
about such things.” (Philippians 4:8) and commends those who read and study the
Scriptures (Acts 17:11—“Now these people were more noble-minded than those in
Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the
Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”)
Taken together, a Christ-centered life includes a heart-driven
pursuit of the person and work of Jesus and a healthy mental preoccupation with
his righteousness. This recalls what Jesus says in Matthew 6:33.
Matthew 6:33-“Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and
his righteousness; and all these things will be added unto you.”
This kind of living is only made possible for the believer
because a death has occurred—their own death to the “Old man”/“sinful self.”
Paul writes, “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God,…”
(3:3). Though an association was drawn earlier between the believer and the
resurrection of Jesus, one cannot be raised with Christ from the dead if he/she
did not die sometime beforehand. Both a believer’s new life and their death to
sin is accomplished in Christ who both died and rose again.
2 Timothy 2:11-“It is a trustworthy statement: For if
we died with Him, we will also live with Him;…”
Romans 6:3-4-“Or do you not know that all of us who
have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as
Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too
might walk in newness of life.”
Who a believer was before being found in Christ is, for all
intents and purposes, gone. That person has died and a new person has emerged.
So radical is this transformation that elsewhere it is compared to being reborn
(see John 3) and results in what is called a “new creation” (2 Corinthians
5:17).
Because believers in the church have died with Christ and
have been raised with Christ they can expect glory with Christ in the end—“When
Christ, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him
in glory” (3:4). What a promise! All three phases—death, resurrection, and
glory—are accomplished in Christ, exactly where a believer finds
himself/herself along with all the blessings appertaining thereunto. As a
result, they should have all the natural motivation necessary to “put on the
new self”—i.e. relentlessly pursuing Christ and preoccupying themselves with
the things of God.
2. INSTRUCTION #2: Discard the Old Self-3:5-11
However, if “putting on” doesn’t do it for you as a
metaphor, Paul reiterates the same idea from an opposite angle in the next
instruction—“Discard the Old Self”—in verses 5-11. The “Therefore” in verse 5
might be just as connected to the end of chapter 2 as the “therefore” in verse
1 as both the contents of 1-4 and 5-11 are rooted in the supremacy of Christ in
the life of his people. Here, Paul makes the same encouragement as before but in
the opposite way saying, “therefore consider the members of your earthly body
as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts
to idolatry” (3:5). Given what has already been described in verses 1-4,
because a believer’s old self has died with Christ, this ought to mean that the
desire for these fleshly things has also died. Things like immorality,
impurity, passion (strong desires gone bad) highlight a particular weak spot
for the gentiles in Paul’s Colossian audience—sexual sins. Immorality most
often refers to any kind of fornication that transgresses God’s plan. Impurity
might call to mind the things that are thought but not acted upon (which,
according to Matthew 5, is just as loathsome as committing the act itself).
“Passion” indicts strong desires pointed toward the wrong things. These
practices/behaviors/tendencies out to be thwarted in those who have died with
Christ and were raised with him. Along with these sexual sins, evil desires and
greed (the love of money and more which is the root of all evil) should also be
done away with. These kinds of behaviors are the crude coverings the world sells
as fashion and those in the world eagerly buy into them to feel important,
cool, or accepted. All these prohibited proclivities amount to idolatry—the
posture in which something/someone else takes the place of almighty God in
one’s life. Whether it is yourself, your relationships, your things, or your
position, these are unfit replacements for the One who alone is worthy of
worship, obedience, and authority.
Paul goes on to say that “it is because of these things that
the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,…” (3:6). Like a
reasonable father who won’t let his daughter out of the house scantly clad, the
heavenly Father judges what the world is wearing, deems it unfit, and will one
day punish those caught having it on. After all, in this case, the clothes
indicate something about the person wearing them. This is implicit in what Paul
says in verse 7—“and in them you once walked, when you were living in them.” It
isn’t ultimately about the clothes/behaviors/etc.; it is about what these
reveal about who one belongs to. Those who walk according to the world, dress
in the raiment of sin and its many forms. Believe it or not, this is what
believers looked like prior to turning to and trusting in the Lord for
salvation. As Paul recalls, even those in the Colossian church “were living in
them” (these bad practices).
“But now you also,” Paul continues, (given that you have
died with Christ and have been raised with Christ and will one day enjoy glory
with Christ) “put them all aside” (that is these sinful practices) (3:8a).
Then, Paul adds to the list he has already begun to populate. Added to sexual
sin, evil desires, and greed, Paul includes “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and
abusive speech from your mouth; do not lie to one another” (3:8a). These are
sins of the mouth that are especially troubling in the lives of believers and
in the context of the church. Don’t believe these deserve a mention next to
sexual sin, evil desires, and greed? How about we peruse what the Bible says
about the tongue and its capacity.
Proverbs 12:18a-“There is one whose rash words are like
sword thrusts,”
Proverbs 18:21-“Death and life are in the power of
the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.”
James 3:8-“But no human being can tame the tongue. It
is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”
1 Peter 3:10-“Whoever desires to love life and see
good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;”
James 1:26-“ If anyone thinks he is religious and
does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is
worthless.”
James 3:5-6-“So also the tongue is a small member,
yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small
fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set
among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course
of life, and set on fire by hell.”
A life that has experienced all that Christ is and has given
isn’t just about what one is wearing, but includes what one is sharing. Not
only must certain behaviors be abandoned like worn out clothes from a bygone
era, but certain words ought to be stricken from a believer’s vocabulary and
certain conversations ought never be entertained among the people of God.
The life of a believer ought to demonstrate radical changes
in behavior (what they wear) and communication (what they share) “since” Paul
says, “you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the
new self” (3:9b-10a). The new self, made possible through Jesus’ death and
resurrection (of which the believer is intimately associated), makes possible a
radical wardrobe (behavioral) change and transformative illocution lessons
(rivaling even that which Audrey Hepburn endured in My Fair Lady), changing
what one says and how they say it.
Though in Christ we have been
granted a “new self,” old habits die hard and slipping into bad patterns/words
typically heard in the lost world, may emerge from time to time, even in the
lives of those who have been save. This is why Paul clarifies in verse 10 that
this new self “is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of
the One who created him” (3:10b). Believers are a new self IN PROCESS—a process
guided by the one who created them that will result in them conforming to his
image. This process involves putting on the new self and discarding the old one
in the ways articulated in this passage (seeking Christ and setting the mind on
things above while abandoning sinful behaviors and more carefully selecting
what one says).
Want some good news? ANYONE can be renewed in this way. Paul
makes certain to share with his diverse audience that this renewal of which he
speaks is available to everyone—“a renewal in which there is no distinction
between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian,
slave and freeman” (3:11). Your ethnic background, religious tradition in the
past, geography, or socio-economic status plays no role in the transformation
available in Christ. Praise the Lord!
In contrast to these earthly distinctions, Paul says,
“Christ is all and in all”—the new distinction is Christian/non-Christ rather
than nationality, race, religious background, or economic” status (Melick, Philippians,
Colossians, Philemon, 298). Here, Christ as “all in all” “speaks of him
beings the total concern, preoccupation, and environment of the Christian”
(Melick, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, 299).
So What?
How does the sufficiency of Christ show up in your life and
practice today? As Paul encourages here, are you relentlessly seeking Christ
above and setting your mind on things beyond this world; or are you preoccupied
with the things of this world and busying yourself with things that do not
last? Are you living as one who has died with Christ, been raised with Christ,
and will one day enjoy glory with Christ or are you behaving as one who still
belongs to the world—endorsing sinful behaviors and salacious speech? Perhaps
today is a day to embrace, once again, or perhaps for the first time, the
renewal that is possible in Christ—a renewal that he made possible through his
work of salvation and is available to everyone. Christ is always in season and
to wear what he has provided well (his righteousness), one must forever relegate
the garments of this world to the discard pile. What do you need to put on
today? What do you need to take off?
No comments:
Post a Comment