Monday, May 3, 2021

New Season, New Wardrobe Pt. 2

 Last week we began looking at how the sufficiency of Christ looks as applied in the lives of believers. Paul described what believers ought to take off and what they ought to put on now that they have been saved. Today, we are going to pick up where we left off and continue the clothing analogy that Paul introduced in 3:1-11. While general cues and principles for what a believer ought to wear and how to put it on were offered in verses 1-4, in verses 12-17 Paul identifies specific spiritual articles of clothing that ought to be worn by God’s people as they live the Christian life in the context of the church. Though such articles may prove rare in the world, they should be common in the kingdom. Five articles are identified as essential to the wardrobe of God’s people in Colossians 3:12-17. These articles are identified by five callings voiced by Paul in this passage that we will consider carefully today.



1. Be Nice-3:12-13

In verses 12-17, Paul continues to outline what salvation in the lives of believers ought to look like. In so doing he gives five callings that should go answered among believers. The first of these is simply to “be nice.” Don’t you know how much better the world would be if more people would simply “be nice.” Don’t you know how much more effective the witness of the church would be if God’s people would answer the call to “be nice.” I cannot help but think that the same much have been true in Paul’s day. This is why he makes sure to encourage such in verses 12-13.

The call to “be nice” is predicated on another calling—the calling of God on the life of the believer. Paul says, “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved” (3:12a). This identifies a special group of people who have been chosen, saved, and rendered holy and especially loved by God. Such people because of their being called, saved, and loved ought to look and behave differently than the lost world around them. This starts, at least as far as this passage suggests, with being nice. Paul expected the church in Colossae (and really the church in every context) to be known for how nice they were.

Of course, Paul doesn’t put it quite as simply as “be nice” (why use two words when many more will do 😊). Instead, he frames this sentiment in the following way “put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” (3:12b). Each of these qualities highlights a slightly different component of the simple call to “be nice.” First, being nice means being compassionate. The word means “to show mercy and concern with the implication of sensitivity.” Jesus celebrates as much in the sermon on the mount when he says “blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy” (Matt. 5:7). Being nice also involves exercising kindness or showing a willingness to provide something beneficial for someone else (Louw & Nida). Humility is also a hallmark of being nice. The proud/arrogant often find it difficult to show mercy or behave kindly. Being nice also requires gentleness (the opposite of proving harsh toward others) and demands patience. Just consider how rare these commodities are in the world today. Such commodities were probably rare in the Roman world of the first century also. Paul did not want these positive qualities to prove rare in the church. Instead, these qualities ought to characterize God’s people. They ought to be the nicest people around.

If a reference was called upon to give an account of your character, could they honestly report that you were a nice person as evidenced by compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience? Maybe you are like me and so many in Paul’s original audience and you need a little coaching in this area. Thankfully, Paul provides exercises along with this calling to help his readership grow nicer. 

If God’s people need growth in being nice, one great way to accomplish this involves “bearing with one another” (3:13a). This calls to mind the sharing of difficulties/trials with patience. One way to improve rapport with others is to traverse a host of situations in a spirit of cooperation and patience. Hard to do, but essential as one learns to show mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and, perhaps most of all, patience.

A second exercise one should adopt to improve one’s “nice” quotient is extending forgiveness. Paul writes, “and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you” (3:13b). As people work together amid adversity (as is required in the first exercise), heads will inevitably collide and personalities will conflict, leading to possible frustration and offense that will require people (all of whom are in process—see 3:1-11), to quickly and liberally forgive one another. This is rendered more feasible when brothers and sisters in Christ consider that they have been forgiven by God. As those who have been forgiven much, they ought to extend forgiveness to others.

The first calling voiced in this passage is to “be nice.” To grow nicer, the church ought to bear together with each other amid all circumstances and prove quick and liberal to forgive. Such exercises will lead to a healthy body and a compelling testimony before a coarse, impatient, and unforgiving world.

2. Show Love-3:14

The second calling Paul provides in this passage highlights a cardinal virtue among God’s people—love—“beyond all these things put on love” (3:14). Love, perhaps even more than being “nice,” ought to identify God’s people. Jesus even teaches that “they will know that you are disciples of mine if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35). Why is love so important to the identity of God’s people? Because God, their Father, is Love--“The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). Those in Christ are also the ones who understand how they have been so loved by the Lord—“We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him” (1 Jn 4:16). In fact, the love that is present in God’s people is based first on God’s love for them—“We love because he first loved us” (1 Jn 4:19). This is why Paul concludes elsewhere “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor 13:13). Love is essential in the lives of God’s people. It is the love of God that saves and it is this same love that ought to be shared with the world.

It might also be worth mentioning that Paul uses a fairly emphatic word for “love” here—agaph—that suggests more than politeness, friendliness, or affection. Such a love is based on sincere appreciation and high regard for the beloved party. This ought to bind people both to their God and to their brothers and sisters.

This is why Paul suggests that love “is the perfect bond of unity” (3:14b). Love and unity go hand and hand. When either is in short supply, the other is also lacking. For the church in Colossae to persevere well together in her volatile context (and in order for the church today to persevere well together in its own volatile context) love, and, subsequently, unity must prevail above everything else. This is the highest calling that Paul provides in this passage.

3. Embrace Peace-3:15

After calling the church to be nice and show love, Paul calls the church to embrace peace. This might prove to be the most welcome and refreshing calling you will hear today given the chaos swarming around us in our current context. However, consider also how welcome this calling would have been to the church in Colossae (a church that was dealing with false teachers, the pressure of persecution, and much more). Paul writes in verse 15—“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” (3:15a). Paul hoped that this would be the church’s prayer in Colossae. Oh that this would be the church’s prayer today! In a world of tension, chaos, distractions, and anxiety, Paul calls for the peace of Christ to rule in the hearts of God’s people. The verb “rule” means “to control the activity of someone” (3:15a). Paul didn’t want instinct, knee-jerk reactions, stress, hectic schedules, the news cycle, or concerns to control God’s people (as was and is often the case); he wanted the peace of Christ to be the captain of the believer’s psyche.

Such peace appears to be dependent in part on what has already been encouraged by Paul in this passage (being nice and showing love which brings unity). He writes in 2 Corinthians 13:11—“Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” Peace also seems to be a result of putting on and taking off the right things (“They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it”-1 Pet 3:11; see also Col. 3:1-11). Elsewhere, Paul teaches that peace is just a prayer away—“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7).

Paul continues in Colossians 3:15 by revealing that such peace is also discovered in the context of the body of Christ—“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body” (3:15b). In the body of Christ, brothers and sister ought to find nice people, plenty of love, and lots of peace because the head of that body—Christ—has shown kindness, is the greatest expression of love, and provides perfect peace.

Like the call to show love, the call to embrace peace includes a complementary exhortation. When Paul admonished the church to love, he subsequently called them to unity. Here, as he admonishes the church to peace, he also calls them to thankfulness—“and be thankful” (3:15c). There is something about peace that breeds gratitude just as there is something about love that yields unity. Again, when one is lacking, you can bet the other is in short supply.

4. Immerse Yourselves in the Word-3:16

Paul’s next calling is to “immerse yourselves in the Word.” He writes to the church, “Let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you” (3:16a). A more wooden translation of this verse might read “let the word of Christ make a home in you.” Paul desired for the church in Colossae and God desires for his people anywhere to be creatures saturated with the Word of God. It is his revelation (spoken, recorded, and witnessed in Christ) that ought to inform and inspire his people more than anything else.

The messages that we come across in our world today might be best illustrated by taking a joy ride down the main strip in Las Vegas. Neon signs, bright lights, billboards, and other spectacles ornament and illuminate the boulevard, competing for attention. These advertisements exist to lure tourists into different hotels, casinos, or other venues, hoping that time and money is spent in their places of business. Our journey in the world is much the same way. Between news media, social media, the marketplace, etc., we are bombarded with messages intent on drawing our attention and keeping it long enough that we spend time, energy, and resources on certain things, considerations, or people. In a world full of competing messages, it is the word of Christ that ought to find a home first in God’s people. Why? Because the word of Christ alone offers life, purpose, and hope forever. NO OTHER word/message/GIF/news bulletin/etc. can offer that!

So how does one decipher and mediate on the World of Christ in a world of competing messages? Paul suggests two means. First, “with all wisdom teaching” (3:16b). Sitting under wise council at the hands of a gifted teacher of the Word renders the Word of Christ more easily recognizable and more readily embraced. The more one knows the Word, the more one becomes fascinated with, dependent upon, and appreciative of that word. After all, here is what Paul and others have to say about the Word of God:

Hebrews 4:12-“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Psalm 119:105-“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”

2 Timothy 3:16-17-“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”

Matthew 24:35-“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

These and many other statements offered in the Bible verify that the Word of Christ is worthy of special preoccupation and consideration in the lives of God’s people. It is an enduring living lamp offered by God for the benefit of his people. Therefore, God’s children ought to immerse themselves in it, in part, by endorsing wise teaching thereof.

While wise teaching helps immerse the church in the word of Christ, so too does the celebration of the word in song—“and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (3:16c). Not only should the church study the Word, but they ought to sing the word. Singing exercises the heart along with the mind as the believer exalts the principle focus of the Word (Christ) and what he has accomplished for the believer (salvation). Regardless of the form the singing takes (psalms, hymns, spiritual songs), the subject remains the same and the spirit is consistent—“with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

Singing has been a mainstay in the church from its inception. In fact, before the New Testament even existed, most historians believe that many creeds confirming the deity, death, and resurrection were already being circulated, recited, and even sung regularly in the gatherings of the church. Singing aids in memorization and the corporate expression of gratitude for what God has done in Christ. Paul expected it to be a mainstay in the church as she immersed herself in the Word of Christ. In other words, While words are thrown around by a myriad of sources, God’s people ought to be those who read, hear, speak, and sing the Word of God.

5. Glorify the Lord-3:17

The final calling that Paul gives to the church in Colossae in this passage is “glorify the Lord.” In what? In the religious practices? On Sundays? When on is with his Christian friends? During personal devotions? Paul writes in “Whatever you do in word or deed” (3:17a). This is the scope of that which ought to glorify the Lord—everything. Everything about a believer’s life should contribute to the exaltation of Christ and the glory of God…everything! The description of the scope that Paul presents here includes everything one says and everything one does. After all, out of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45) and what one does demonstrates the convictions they hold (James 2).

All a believer says and does should be accomplished, Paul says, “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (3:17b)—that is in a way that is consistent with who he is, what he did, and all that he taught. If someone cannot see Jesus doing it, encouraging it, or teaching it, it ought not be done or said.

Additionally, everything said and done ought to be executed in a spirit of thanksgiving—“giving thanks through Him to God the Father” (3:17c). Once again thanksgiving is attached to a Christ-centered life (just as it was fixed to the idea of peace earlier in verse 15).  

So What?

Which of these articles is absent or lost from your wardrobe today as a child of God? Are you nice? Or has the past year or severe trials/circumstances left you trading kindness for callousness toward others? Are you showing love, or is your inability to work with others or forgive telling you that maybe there is something important you have neglected to put on? Are you ruled by the peace of God or is something else driving you ever so anxiously in your day-to-day life? Are you immersed in the Word of Christ or do you entertain other messages more the life-giving message of the Bible? Do you seek to glorify the Lord in all that you do, or are you working for self-interests and self-exaltation? Here are some practical tips that will help you apply the spiritual articles of clothing Paul encourages here: 1) Choose today to be especially courteous to someone (even or especially when they don’t deserve it), 2) Forgive a grudge you’ve held for a long time, 3) Pray today more than you did yesterday (specifically for peace and to be ruled by the Spirit of peace not the heat of the moment), 4) Start a Bible reading plan (that may or may not include journaling, Scripture memorization, etc.) to immerse yourself in the word, and 5) surrender even the most menial of tasks in your daily life to the Lord. Whether you choose to incorporate all or just one of these habits in your life, may we be a people with a complete spiritual wardrobe that glorifies the Lord and serves a s compelling witness to the world around us.

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