Colossians 3:1-17
Paul begins chapter 3 with a new set of guidelines. They are different than the rules that he wrote so strongly against in the last chapter.
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Paul reminds them once again that if they trust in Jesus for their salvation, they were raised with Christ. The power of Jesus over death itself was shown numerous times in his ministry. Once when Jesus raised the widow’s son at Nain, a second time when he brought Jairus’s daughter back from death, a third time when he raised Lazarus from the dead, and the fourth time when Christ himself was resurrected. Because of these displays of power, we have confidence to know that Christ has the power to give us eternal life. This trust doesn’t have to be an act of blind faith, but it’s reasonable given all the things that Christ has done. The truth and power of the Gospel requires this resurrection, and without it, there is no gospel. If the Gnostics were right, and Jesus never was truly flesh, the resurrection never happened, and the gospel is powerless to save us. But since Christ came back, and we were raised with him, we are now free to do some new things. We can set our hearts on things above. Our hearts can desire something besides material or physical or earthly pleasures. When we are living with the gospel in our hearts, we are free to be deadened to the relentless pressure of wants and feelings of incompleteness. Our lives are no longer a function of what we have or what we do, but now are defined by Christ, who is our life (in verse 4). When Christ appears, we appear with him in glory. Now, just because we are free from the world and the desires for earthly things doesnt necessarily mean that we will always use our freedom properly. Verse 5 continues:
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Christ has set us free, but sometimes we don’t use our freedom to run away from the things that enslaved us before. I would like to think that if I were a slave, upon being granted my freedom, I’d run as far away from my old masters as possible and live in a new place with respect for that new found freedom. But as a Christian, this is sadly not what I do. I tend to find myself putting my old shackles back on, and struggling with the same things that enslaved me before. I think as Christians, we are too familiar with our old lives and the ways we used to walk. What happens is we neglect our new identity and live with no regard to the power and freedom that has been purchased for us on the Cross.
Paul says that with this freedom, we can put to death our old earthly masters. These things include sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed. These masters take the place of God in our hearts and become idols for us. Our character suffers as well, verse 8 shows the results of this idolatry, which are anger, rage, slander, and filthy language. We are called to put to death these things that belong to our earthly nature. I once heard this process compared to the concept of starving or feeding a beast. There is no middle ground, either you are feeding the beast and helping it grow, or you are neglecting the beast and starving it. Paul says it differently when he says we are taking off our old self, and putting on our new self. The importance of putting on the new self can’t be over stated. This is what we are called to do. Why? Because the new self that we are to put on, is being RENEWED in KNOWLEDGE in the image of its creator. The wording here is very similar to Romans 12:2
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Compare this to Colossians 3:10
put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
This process helps us to shape our new identities, and define who we are in Christ. Our new identities don’t look like our old identities. We no longer care if we are Greek, Jew, circumsized, barbarian, slave, or free, but we are identified with our lord and Savior Christ. Because we are saved, we are one in Christ, and he is in all who put on their new self and their new identity. Paul discussed some of our old masters, negative attributes and things to put to death, but what is the alternative?? Verse 12 continues:
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
This is what it means to have your heart and your mind on things in heaven. We no longer need to be enslaved to our wants, desires, sins. We were freed from them. Christians seem to love to talk about all the terrible things we are freed from. I think it’s very important to do that, because we understand how much better the grace and mercy is. However, God is not done with us there. He saved us FROM sin FOR something else. These things are what we are to put on. We put on our new self, which is clothed with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Think about these things. Meditate about them. What do they all have in common? They are outward facing. You show compassion to others, you show kindness to others, humility involves making yourself smaller and others larger. Gentleness is practiced towards others, and patience is most tested by interacting with others. Yes, you can be kind toward yourself, and patient with yourself, but that is rarely the problem that most people have. The real growth in our new identities when we clothe ourselves with Christ happens when we interact with other people! When we show compassion towards one who is having trouble, when we are kind towards someone else, when we humble ourselves, when we show gentleness and become patient towards the people who are trying our patience. Verse 13 goes right there when it commands” bear with each other and forgive one another”. This process is NOT easy. Even when we were given freedom to live that way. Why? Because when we are bearing with one another, it is not pleasant. The Bible says to Forgive one another. When do you have to forgive someone? When they commit a wrongdoing or offense against you. How do we know how to forgive? GOD showed us. God forgave us, and in the way God forgave us, with mercy and compassion and love, that’s how we forgive one another. God didn’t grudgingly forgive us. It was a joy. It pleased him to crush his Son. And Jesus died on the cross for the Joy set before him. How do we get to these virtues? Verse 14 says we put on Love. God showed us what love is. We can do these things because we have seen the Lord show us mercy, kindness, forgiveness, compassion, gentleness, humility, patience and Love. It is seen most clearly at one point in history. That is when he demonstrated all of these things by sending his Son to die on the cross for our sins. That is how we are to live, and with all that in mind, we go on to the verse 15 .
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Because of Christ’s work, we are atoned. We are made righteous before God, and we have a fellowship with Him. There is no greater peace in the world. Why is there no greater peace? Because Our greatest offense has been forgiven. The thing that caused the greatest amount of unrest has been satisfied and the bridge between sinful man and a holy God has been made. Our souls now can know peace like never before. And we can share that peace with our brothers and sisters. With that peace, naturally comes thankfulness. When we are together in fellowship, we can share the message of Christ, teaching and admonishing one another. What does it mean to admonish? It means to warn, instruct, urge and advise one another. We all have Bibles, and have access to this wisdom. There are psalms, hymns, songs from the Spirit. Churches are meant to include all of these things, with the help of the Spirit of God. We can share our gratefulness and thankfulness towards God as a family in a church. And verse 17 says, even when we aren’t in church, no matter what we say, or do, we are to do it in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus. Through Jesus, and only through Him, we can give acceptable thanks to the creator and Sovereign over all, God the Father.