Put On, Put Off

Colossians 3:5-17

This section of verses talks about the attributes that we are to put on and off. In verse 5, Paul says to consider the members of your body as dead to evil. Literally that sentence translates "put to death the members which are upon the earth." This again is a refutation of Gnosticism. The body of the Christian should no longer participate in fleshly desires, but only the desires of Christ. Paul goes on to say that the evil that he has listed leads to idolatry. This is because the flesh becomes god, and the one who falls into these sins is solely trying to fill the desires of the flesh. The flesh is put before God. God cannot allow anyone or anything to take the throne. Thus those who worship anything, but Himself will suffer His wrath. This is who we were before Christ. We did not seek God, we did not worship Him, and we were subject to His wrath. In verse 8 Paul says "But now." But now that you are in Christ, you must put off anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive speech, lying, and the old self with all it's evil practices. I once heard this idea of putting on and putting off explained this way: When you go to the gym and work out, you get all sweaty and stinky, right? Let's say after you're done at the gym you're going to go hang out with some friends. Well, instead of showering and changing clothes, you decide to put a clean shirt over the dirty one. Now, is that going to remove the stench? No! You have to shower and take off the old dirty clothes, and then put on new ones. This is how it is for us as Christians. We have to completely remove our former life, and be washed in the blood of the lamb. It is not possible to live with the dirty shirt (or the old self) hiding underneath the new self. The old self must be considered dead, and if we don't take it off, or we try to put it back on, we're going to stink, and those around us are gonna smell it.
Now in verse 10, Paul talks about what we are to put on. We are to put on a new self, a clean shirt. Because of Christ's death and resurrection we are new creations, 2 Cor 5:17. In this new life, we are all the same. There is no difference between race or gender. We are all one in Christ. Therefore, we must not allow ourselves to show partiality here on earth. This goes back to James 2. Now in verse 12 we see that we are to put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. We are to bear with one another. The Greek word for bearing with means "to hold up against something, to bear with." This means that we are to hold each other up against the pressures of life. Like in Galations 6:2 where we are called to bear one another's burdens. We are also to forgive each other as the Lord forgave you. When the Lord forgives, does he bring the past back up to you? No, he has settled your account and no longer holds it against you. So it should be between believers. When you have forgiven, you must not allow yourself to hold that sin against them ever again. Above all we are to put on love. Love is the perfection of Christian character. If we are loving God and loving others, we will not sin. Unfortunately, we still sin, but perfect love is something we must strive for.
Christ is peace and when we let Him rule in our hearts, we will have peace. The fact that God has given us salvation, and the ability to grow and strive toward perfect should make us thankful. In all things we should be thankful because we who deserve nothing, have been given everything! Verse 16 says to let the word of Christ richly dwell within you. We must read the word, but we cannot just read it. We have to let it penetrate our hearts and become a part of who we are. We cannot just know it, but we have to live it. This is what it means to have the word of Christ dwell within you. How is it to dwell in you? With wisdom, teaching, and admonishing. The Word brings wisdom, with this wisdom with should be teaching and encouraging those who are younger in the Lord. We are also called to admonish one another. This word in the Greek means "to caution or reprove gently." When we see a believer caught in sin, we are commanded to humbly and gently bring the sin to their attention. If we fail to bring correction, that brother or sister may fall further into sin and bring others with them. It is out of concern for them that you should admonish someone. This is something anyone can do to any fellow believer. If the person caught in sin is an authority over you, you can still go to them, but make sure that it is truly sin and that you have a biblical basis for it. In all situations of admonishing you need to come with a heart of humility and compassion.
Finally in verse 17, Paul calls us to do all things in the name of Jesus. We are representatives of Christ. When unbelievers look at us, they are watching to see how we live. If we are not living well, then they will see Christ as a fake and a hypocrite. If we live well by the grace of Jesus, then they will see who Jesus really is and perhaps want to know what we have that is different. I pray for each of us, that we would be true representations of Christ, no matter where we are or who we are with.