In this sermon, Pastor Joe Babij finishes looking at Colossians 3:1-14 and the new life of a believer in Christ. In part 3, Pastor Babij examines the third characteristic of the new self as explained in Colossians 3:10-14: the new self puts on new clothing.
Three Characteristics of the New Self in Christ
1. The New Self Has New Pursuits (vv. 1-4)
2. The New Self Deals Decisively with the Old Man (vv. 5-9)
3. The New Self Puts on New Clothing (vv. 10-14)
3a. The calling of the new self (v.12a)
3b. The character of the new self (v. 12b-13)
3c. The cohesion of the new self (v. 14)
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okay let’s take our Bibles this morning and turn to Colossians chapter 3.
we’ll be looking at verse number 9 through 14 this morning and let me read that Colossians chapter 3 verse number nine do not lie to one another since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices and having put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew and circumcised and uncircumcised and Barbarian synthine slave and free man but Christ is all and in all so as those who have been chosen of God holy and beloved put on a heart of compassion kindness humility gentleness patience bearing with one another and forgiving each other Whoever has a complaint against anyone just as the Lord forgave you so also should you beyond all these things put on love which is the perfect Bond of unity let’s pray father this morning as we come before you and we use the very word from heaven and I pray Lord we would receive it like this like the Thessalonians as the word of God and the power of the word of God to be used in our our mind in our heart by the holy spirit of God to actually transform us into the image of Christ making us ready and prepared to be revealed with you in glory someday so let her let us give ourselves over to that wholeheartedly today and every day and I pray Lord that our life would reflect your life in Christ I pray amen as I’ve been saying that the Christian once they become a Believer are they’re really everything’s really new in their life it should be things should be changing like never before because you are in Christ the holy spirit is indwelling you and the word of God is transforming you as it says in verse number 11 a renewal in which there is no distinction in the beginning preaching Colossians I mentioned a quote and I’d like to mention that again and it says in that quote I said in that quote in the Society of Christians a new type of humanity is being formed that Christ’s life flows out of his people and is reproduced in their midst one proof of this new life was seen in canceling of the restrictions and inhibitions which made the ancient world so socially stratified and class conscious the Apostle Paul had shown how the church barriers of race social distinction and sex were being broken down as Christians acted upon their profession of faith and their initiation into the body of Christ in other words have you seen a change in your life and do you continue to see that change in your life I pray that you do because that is part of how you know you’re a Christian but many in the ancient world struggle against uh the new idea they were attracted to the church but tried to adjust Christ to fit their old categories kind of like Christ was an add-on that was good to Believe In Christ but it was added on to everything else but no change no transformation they tried to Define Christianity in terms of their human philosophers rather than letting Christ Define them and the new Humanity we have the same problem today for example two character characteristic marks of the church is number one it is a living organism in which everyone is to be interacting and involved with one another and yet often we treat the church like a business like a democracy rather than all people with their God giving giving using their spiritual gifts and functioning together as a living organism as God designed it a second characteristic is a dynamic Holiness which is to Mark the character of Believers and the believing Community as a whole and yet we persist in trying to Define our righteousness by lists of things we do and things we don’t we are tempted to put new wine into old wineskins and you know what happens what takes place when that happens it bursts and then explodes so then the two greatest failures of the teachers in Colossians the false teachers is that they were disparaging Christ and actually distorting what it really meant to live the Christian Life nobody really knew they just thought if we do these things you’re a Christian if you don’t do those things you’re a Christian see if teaching the Thrones Christ it is it not only robs him of his rightful place of preeminence but it distorts all the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith and the Christian life becomes a set of man-made roles and regulations with no spiritual power no ability to deal with the sin nature and no capacity to put sins to death see the false teachers failed to teach what is Godlike and what is his relationship to the world they failed to teach how does a human being gain access to God through through through true his true presence where they have a fellowship with God and they fail to teach how does a human being gain fullness of life and how did the false teachers actually handle the matter of gaining fullness of life well Believers should practice the way of life laid out by the false teachers with this special knowledge see they thought there is something more more than the simple message of Christ and that’s a very dangerous thought very dangerous thought so so somebody once they believed they had to have special knowledge and they had had a special experience in their Christian walk and how did that look when the false teachers thought that well then you would live in a ascetic lifestyle that that means the way of life stressed the rigid regulations of abstinence and self-punishment that fullness of life is obtained by pursuing or pushing down desires controlling the body by severe fasting and Punishment and being suspicious of anything associated with the material world and this has really a strange appeal to people still today it does and it seems spiritual but it really is it’s an Escape from regular life that we all have to deal with every single day it tries to transport people to some otherworldly plane there’s no such thing also it looked like a legalistic lifestyle here fullness of life is obtained by carefully keeping prescribed rules and rituals and taboos by refraining from eating meat keeping the Sabbath in a special way by keeping lists and traditions and maintaining everything within a prescribed set of rules spiritual spirituality had to be found Beyond this world of things and people or it could look like the antinomian lifestyle Liberation from Evil by indulging the flesh and this is how fullness of life was obtained for them some have reasoned that since our bodies are part of the evil material Universe it doesn’t matter what you do they can indulge every every fleshly desire for whatever is done cannot be contaminated by the spiritual the spiritual part of man or it led to also idolicious Lifestyle the worship of angels and this is the mystical part of it and believe me every false teaching has a mystical element to it that means it’s an element you cannot just Define you cannot categorize it’s an experience you have and many people and I talk to Christians too that want something more than what God gave them and found in the word of God and that is a very dangerous place to be so they go seeking for it they seek for an experience they for they seek for us a special event that happens and for them them that would be fullness of life so that means that the false teachers for them fullness of life and spiritual reality is found through some special knowledge or some subjective experience or some ritual observation this is the way fullness may be found however this old idea of spirituality drastically distorts true biblical Doctrine and the Christian way of living specifically it is rooted in the doctrine that robs Jesus Christ of his central place so that was the essence of their teaching that they were confusing the Believers with their novel ideas and their false gospel and these teachers sounded so amazing and knowledgeable they sounded so contemporary and up-to-date but they were wrong as they are wrong today and all you have to do is go to scripture and find out they’re wrong just by going verse by verse book by book you find out what God really wants us to do and really where fullness of life and spiritual reality is actually found and where is it found anyway it’s found by putting on Christ that’s where it’s found in fact the Apostle Paul said in Romans in Romans 13 14 but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the Flesh in regard to its lusts now of course we say that but what does it mean what does that mean being the loving person Jesus was that’s what it means part of it true Holiness is hidden pretty much in daily life but seen in our loving relationship with other people meaning that the fullness of living our relationship with Christ is to be sought in the context of our life as God gave it to you in the world where you’re at that’s where you find it every day your interaction life and if you remember as you think of that what set Jesus apart well he was a man among men he enjoyed companionship he ate and drank with other people he prayed he showed us the father by the way he responded to people and taught with authority he claimed to be the son of God foreign he didn’t fit his own people’s image of the Divine so they rejected him and yet God walked on Earth in the man Jesus now that seems like too simple God could have did better than that and yet that’s exactly what God has done in his life we see God unveiled we discover Holiness in the love and the compassion of the one whose company was sought by prostitutes and sinners of all types the godliness in human flesh lives a Jesus kind of life and when you live a Jesus kind of life that is where fullness of life is found and that’s where spiritual reality is found and that’s where you learn to rest and enjoy life as God wants us to even with all the problems and circumstances stances that surround us every single day it is not found in the spectacular even though God does spectacular things with people at times it’s not his regular way of doing things so don’t look there don’t look at the spectacular don’t look for a lightning bolt don’t look for a grand thing to happen in your life don’t even look for a miracle in that sense because that’s where it’s not it’s found God does those things but not on a regular basis it is found in everyday life where we are living out the reality of this new self this new transformation well the book of Colossians has already begun to answer the question how to gain fullness of life I often say to people when they ask me how my how am I doing I says I I say to them I am um I’m breathing in and out I’m putting one foot in front of the other and I’m doing the next thing that pleases the Lord that’s how I’m doing it I tell you what if if you live like that I’ve learned to live like that because I you have to live in reality things go wrong in reality but see Christ doesn’t change he’s with me he’ll never leave me or forsake me that’s true that’s always true no matter what’s going on no matter how dark it gets in my life that’s what reality is I must live there and when I live there I receive the blessing of God I receive the fullness of what God wants in my life and I minister to other people I become the light and salt God wants me to be and you to be that’s where it’s found in Colossians chapter 3 verse one through four the Apostle Paul immediately stresses that we have been raised with Christ Earthly regulations and principles are to be set aside and our attention is to be fixed on things above Colossians chapter 3 verse 5 through 11 two ways of life are compared immorality malice lust anger greed these passions are to be rejected these are to be put to death and put off like an old soiled garment and to experience life’s fullness these old ways must be replaced by the new ways which we’ll look at this morning and Colossians chapter 3 verse 12-15 fullness of life is experienced by putting on the new way of life the picture is put on the image is putting on clothes you take off clothes and you put clothes on all the time some people do it two or three times a day some people don’t do it that often at all but nonetheless I have already said in Colossians chapter 3 verse about chapter one I mean verse one to all all the way over to chapter four verse 6 is the applications given to us who can live the true life that we have in Christ and practice biblical imperatives because there’s many imperatives in this sections these are commands for Christians do these and if God gives us a command he will give us the power to carry out that command and Institute it in our life and then we receive the blessing by doing it there are at least three things that are realized very quickly about the actual life of a Christian the scriptures before us in Colossians chapter 3 help us to identify some characteristics of the new self the first and the second have already been covered today we will look at the third the first was the new self has new Pursuits the second is the new self deals decisively with the old self and today the new self puts on new clothing so what is the scripture what does it actually do it brings us right down to Earth where we live and which we are given the power of God to deal with the Inner Man by the metaphor of putting off clothes and putting on clothes it is a fact that it is has been estimated that if a person lives to 70 or 80 they will spend five years dressing and about one and a half years to two years in church that’s not a good ratio but that’s the truth in some people I’m sure that’s more but let’s look at the first one and the third of our category in chapter 3 verse 9 through 14 is this that the new self puts on new clothing look what it says in verse number 11 it says this and I’ll read it again a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jews circumcised and uncircumcised Barbarian synthian slave free man but Christ is all and in all now the clothing metaphor alludes to Adam the account of Adam in Genesis chapter 3 verse 7 and verse number 21 where does what does it say there it says then the eyes of both of them were open and they knew that they were naked and they sowed fig leaves together and made themselves loin cover coverings you see something happened that made Adam and need Eve realized that they did not have any clothes on see the sense they sensed immediately that they could no longer stand in the presence of God so they tried to remedy their own situation to cover their own nakedness with establishing their own plan of their own righteousness and how do they do that well it says in Genesis 3 7 then the eyes of both of them were open and they knew that they were naked and what do they do they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings they sinned they knew they had to cover themselves you see Adam and Eve were no longer innocent because of their sin of Disobedience their nakedness before God was a symbol of their innocence now because of sin they were not innocent the Fig leaves became their own inadequate attempt to cover their sins and their Disobedience so they felt afraid they felt guilty they felt ashamed before God where they didn’t feel that way before in the rags of their own self-righteousness they ran and hid and covered their naked bodies and that’s what we always do when we sin we want to hide we want to hide from God and people when we do that we want to cover it we don’t want people to really know what’s going on in our life but God sees every time you you and I put on clothes it should remind you and me that it’s sin before God your sin has made you unrighteous and unfit for the presence of God and the Very message of the Gospel that God sent Jesus to die outside the Gate of Jerusalem what to do what to take away our sin to cover us up with his perfect righteousness to give us new clean clothes and to give us New Life by his resurrection so Jesus provided he provided to us the righteousness that we needed and took on himself all the Wrath that we deserve now that’s good news he did that when we were helpless when we were ungodly when we were Sinners and when we were enemies he did that so this is where the Resurrection Life is observed by others there must be putting off before there can be putting on we are not just putting on clean clothes but we are putting on a clean new self and the Bible connects clothing with righteousness and nakedness with depravity the Bible is clothed with Christ righteousness the believer is clothed with Christ’s righteousness where the Bible even tells us in the mindset of the Hebrew from Isaiah it says I will rejoice greatly in the Lord my soul exalt in my God for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation he has wrapped me in the robe of righteousness and how has he done and how’s that look like a bridegroom decked himself with Garland and like a bride adorns herself with her Jewels that’s what God does in his righteousness when he close us with it we looked beautiful and ready for a wedding ceremony so back in Genesis the Lord made garments it says of skin for Adam and Eve and clothe them now this is God’s remedy and it is the picture that we receive that God provides new clothing for flowing Humanity which here the change of clothing signifies the Believers New Creation and relationship with God that an animal had to die and shed the blood to get garments of skin to cover people’s sin right in Genesis we get the picture of the cross and if we look back at Colossians 3 and verse number 10 it says and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him so by the transformative power of the Gospel of the Cross of Christ Jesus is making a new community of believers a community of all kinds of people groups that bear the image of God by putting off the old practices and by putting on the new Humanity that bear the image of its creator so the renewal here is that of in verse number 11 a distinction between groups that it’s gone that no one could break down the barriers between different people groups with the difference they have in their social and their religious and their ethnic and their Geographic and their educational and their economic with their class divisions it would be impossible to conquer these distinctions and unify people into one body nobody can do that and even in our government today in our world today they’re keeping this distinction these distinctions so vivid that people are actually against each other and they remain that so they can control them that’s what they do but when you come to Christ all that’s gone there’s no more distinctions there’s no more division between you and I it’s not about skin color it’s not about where you grow up it’s not about how wealthy or poor you are it’s about you and I being in Christ and we’re being made new together there is one who has done the impossible and that’s Jesus Christ and right now all who come to Christ in Repentance of their sins and faith in Jesus are being renewed as the Bible says to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him to be renewed in knowledge points to a reversal of the effects of the fall through God’s new creative act in Christ and where’s that scene it’s seen in Daily life it’s seen in our daily direction of our lifestyle for example a young woman who was renewed after the image of the one who created her is not going to mold herself in the pattern of Hollywood or some YouTube personality or the different Trends offered by a Godless world but she will be willing to be modest and feminine and she’ll know who a woman is and enjoy her identity as a child of God with the submissive heart to serve Christ and then a young man who was renewed after the image of Christ is not going to indulge in a habitual practice of sin or sins but that that he knows offends the Lord but he will be masculine and strong and yet gentle and enjoy his identity as a child of God with a submissive heart and he will know that he is in control because the spirit of God is growing and leading him and he’ll wait on God for the desires of his heart and so shall will she so since Christ conquered all and removed all these distinctions in verse number 11 that all peoples can be unified and participate together in one body achieved by Christ’s death and Resurrection and where does all this lead look at the end of verse number 11 it says but Christ is all and in all that’s where it leads to that we’re all one in Christ in Christ all are one and that’s what makes Christianity so completely different than anything else that God unifies us no matter who we are where we came from what we what our experiences and he brings us together and makes us one body so in the midst of diversity there is unity and there’s real genuine love so Christ engulfs all radical racial religious cultural differences with his indiscriminate Grace Christ is all and anyone needs all anyone really needs is Christ and that’s it there’s nothing to be added there’s nothing to be taken away Christ is all and into all so with that in mind I want you to consider with me this morning three designations of the new self verse number 12 here’s the first one the first designation is in verse 12 and it says this so as those who have been chosen of God holy and beloved you know Brethren here’s the first one the calling of the new self in other words the message we receive about our identity shape our lives in a very powerful way who we understand ourselves to be matters how we live our lives the worst thing for a person to experience is not knowing who they are why they’re here what are they’re supposed to do well the Bible tells us why we’re here we’re called uh and were chosen now this word chosen is the word elected long before Adam sinned God already decreed and determined salvation for sinners in eternity past the father chose a people in Christ who would be saved and he they would be saved from his wrath see this selection process was not based on any foreseen faith in those who he chose nor was it prompted by inherent goodness in a person instead it was according to His Infinite love and ins inscrutable wisdom that God set his affection upon his elect and when did he do that according to Ephesians chapter 1 he did it before the foundation of the world he did it not only he would elect us and choose us in Christ but he also elected us to be not only saved but holy and blameless they all go together you can’t separate them so a person who says well yeah I’m saved well where’s your Holiness where’s the change in your life well I don’t really have any change in my life well you’re not a Christian then because the Bible says you were elected to be changed by God by his power see that’s what he’s done so each one chosen was predestined by the father to be conformed to the image of a son and to sing his Praises forever I love to sing this morning thank you for all our praise team groups who put the work in to bring it to us on Sunday it is really a blessing to sing and and then to hear you sing is a blessing everybody’s singing from their heart and singing not because they want to get worked up because they love Christ and they know what Christ has done for them that’s that’s the only way to sing right and so that’s what we want to do so you may not realize it but Divine election is the grandest most Joy producing Doctrine in all scripture but it’s also the most hated Doctrine you know that right in one one one Sunday school we’re gonna have to teach again on the the doctrines of Grace because they are they are probably the most convicting and humbling doctrines that we could ever learn as Believers and they changed your life they really change your life the doctrine of election is never presented in scripture as something to be afraid of but always as something for believers to rejoice in and one thing that I want to say of people maybe have not grasped it yet that got elected you before the foundation of the world you really had nothing to do with your salvation God had everything to do with it you may not fully understand that truth but I will tell you you must come to terms with this Doctrine one way or another and here’s some advice don’t fight it instead submit to the wisdom of God because the judge of all the Earth shall do what is right and you and I may not be able to fully explain the doctrine of election and if somebody asks you well why does God chose you and love you I don’t know because of God’s nature because of who God is that’s it that’s all I can say but that’s all right that’s all scripture says so I pray that everyone here would come to understand and love this Doctrine and when you do it will inform every thought and it will shape everything you do your new identity shows up every day of your life your new identity also shows that you are a kingdom of you live in the kingdom of God and that you are a king’s kid so a king’s kid must dress with appropriate clothing let’s step into God’s closed closet this morning and let’s select some clothing that Jesus wants us to wear clothes clothes are the first thing people see when they they see you close can tell if you are a blue collar worker or a white collar worker whether you are stylish or not clothes can communicate social status destination and nationality and in short clothing gives us much information about a person of course the clothing that I speak of this morning is not physical clothing but spiritual clothing the clothing you and me are to put on is the same clothing Jesus wore so this is how we put on Christ Jesus is the model upon which we are to Fashion our daily lives here is clothing that is fashionable in the kingdom of God and never goes out of style first we are reminded of our calling and identity that we have been elected by God as his children and just think of it we are Kingdom children not just children of a king but children of the king of kings we are his kids so when we go out in the world we got to live like that because that’s your new identity so the second designation of the new self is this in verse 12 and 13. the character of the new self notice what it says in verse number 12. it begins to give us a list of things and the first thing it says in verse number 12 it says once you’re chosen of God holy and beloved put on see we’re to put something on it it’s again it’s a command here for us and what are we going to put on we’re to put on five virtues last time we looked at five vices but now five virtues what’s the first virtue a heart of compassion some have translated a tender hearted Mercy the Old King James says the bells of Mercy now I like that in a way because it’s talking about the inner side of you the inside of you in fact actually there’s two words used to translate this phrase one refers to the inner seat of one’s deepest emotion and the other a motivating outward emotion that moves toward meeting a need so in other words a Biblical compassion is a compassion that you feel it in your gut and then it moves to your will and you do something about it that’s how you see Christ in fact Christ is the uh epitome of of this particular attribute there are for example when no need to turn there but just give you some examples when like in the gospel of Mark when Jesus went ashore he saw a large crowd and he felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd and he began to do something how did he meet their need how did he move toward them he began to teach them with authority he began to leave them like a Shepherd that’s how he met their need and then also in Mark 8 it says I it says I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with me now three days and have nothing to eat so what does Jesus do he feeds them so you say well that’s very basic stuff yes that’s what I’m talking about fullness of Life comes in the very basics of life that’s how we bless other people and we are used of God to be a blessing and get blessed ourselves see putting on a heart of compassion is to be like Jesus look at the next one in Colossians chapter 12 chapter 3 verse 12 kindness kindness is the sympathetic expression of Love shown to another human being whether they deserve it or not you ever heard the expression kill them with kindness actually there’s truth to that a lot of Truth to that why because someone yelling at you and you’re kind to them they don’t know what to do all right someone coming against you and you’re actually kind to them with a good attitude a smile on your face and you want have a helpful they just don’t know what to do they either stop talking or they’ll walk away you you just stopped them in their path kindness is an incredible characteristic that God wants us to put on every single day because you know what kindness shows up in action when we think of David in the Old Testament when David uh Saul was dead and Jonathan was dead and David went and he was saying listen is there anybody I can show kindness to and so there was a guy named Zeba and says uh yeah I know somebody and David says can I show them can I show this person the kindness of God and he says yes who is it mephibosheth the son of Jonathan son of Saul and this is what David says to him when he comes in before him he says Don’t Fear for I will surely show kindness to you for the sake of your father Jonathan and I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul and you shall eat at my table regularly that’s kindness now when somebody’s kind like that how do you respond there’s only one way to respond humbly right it humbles you it puts you kind of in your place no argument no quarreling none of that kind of stuff going on see kindness is what God wants us to put on in this world kindness also shows up in words where it says in Proverbs 31 she opens up her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of what kindness is on her tongue comes out of your mouth kind of shows up in spiritual life in Galatians 5 but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace kindness and kindness is an instrument in Salvation what do I mean by that Romans 2 4 or it says by way of a question or do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and tolerance and patience not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance it’s the kindness of God that brings us to a place where we receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ you see putting kindness on is to be like Jesus and then what’s the next one humility it’s the inward virtue of voluntary submission unselfishness and a lowliness of thinking like it says in Ephesians with all humility and gentleness with patients showing tolerance for one another in love see humility is needed in a loving relationship it also tells us in Philippians do not do nothing from selfish or empty conceived but with humility of mind to do what regard one another more important than yourself so humility is shown in an attitude of the Mind where others interests are more important than your own and then even Peter uses the word for clothing when it comes to humility where it says in First Peter 5 you young men likewise be subject to your elders and all of you clothe yourselves with humility what toward one another it’s always the toward one another thing see it’s the daily life living interacting with people that’s where you get blessed and that’s where the fullness of life is so those who walk with God must be humble in the Old Testament the prophet Micah said he has told you o man what is good and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God what is that you know what that is that’s daily living just go walk your life live your life for Christ and show these put these things on every day and you will find fullness of life what’s the next one in our passage gentleness recognizing one’s own weakness yet God’s power it’s often referred to as power under control this is gentleness and who who exemplifies that more than anybody when Jesus says in Matthew 11 29 take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I Am What gentle and humble and hard and you will find rest for your soul see it’s you you don’t run away from people who are gentle yet strong you run towards them because they’re going to help you it’s like what Paul says about gentleness in Thessalonians it’s like a mother taking care of her children but we prove to be gentle among you a nursing mother tenderly cares for our own children and then the wisdom that comes from above is it says in James is gentle reasonable full of Mercy and good fruits see gentleness is the opposite of quarreling it’s the opposite of crawling Paul writing uh Titus says to the people malign malign no one that means speak no evil of anyone but be peaceful not quarreling gentle showing every consideration of all men man if we did that we wouldn’t have the issues and problems we have in fact Titus says in the next verse and we also once were foolish ourselves disobedient deceived enslaved to various lust and Pleasures spending our life in Malice and envy hateful hating one another see it has to be put off that’s not Christ putting on gentleness is to be like Christ and then he says this patience is the next one in our passage and that’s just simply long suffering holding out long with someone in fact holding out of your mind before it gives room to action or passion especially in the face of indignities and injuries by others see what a person is in his character will also show up in his relationship with others that is looking at people and dealing with them as God would look at them and deal with them aren’t you glad Jesus bore along with you and still does when Jesus even said in Peter and while being reviled he did not revile in return while suffering he uttered no threats but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously that’s patience in the midst of Injustice it’s patience now there’s if you go back to the Colossians there’s there’s really two ways to carry out the five virtues and he gives just two notice what he says in verse number 13 it says in verse 13 bearing with one another that’s the word forbearance to Bear long with and to put up with a great deal of even Injustice and unpleasant circumstances without retaliation or Revenge are we doing that do we do that or do we always feel like we have to defend ourselves always feel like we have to put ourselves up in front and give always a reason why everything happens we’re always being confrontational I’m glad Jesus Bears along with us he will never desert you he will never forsake you that’s what the scripture says and then notice again the next one in verse number 13 forgiving each other Whoever has a complaint against anyone these are basic things these are relational things it may take a long time for people to come around so you’ll have to give forgive people more often than you probably calculate like it says in scripture and forgive us our deaths as we forgive our debtors for if you forgive others for their trespasses your heavenly father will also forgive you and Mark it down if you feel Justified not to forgive I’m always amazed when I have to argue not argue with somebody or convince them that they ought to forgive somebody I’m always a little bit amazed at that especially when they’re claiming to be a Christian because it when you look at scripture when you look at this scripture right here you see that God’s forgiveness is really incomparable because he forgives us in Christ without compromise of his holy Justice the prophet Micah in chapter 7 verse number 19 shows us that God casts our sins into the depth of the sea when he forgives us he puts them so far out of his sight that he never sees them again of course the Lord does not actually forget our sins Micah only means that God no longer holds our sin against us when he forgives Us in other words he won’t bring it up anymore it’s a done deal and in fact Paul says this in Romans where he says blessed are those whose Lawless Deeds have been forgiven and whose sins have been covered blessed is the man who sin the Lord will not take into account isn’t it great to know that the Lord’s not going to take something into account that you did because Jesus Christ took care of it so when he sees your account I don’t see anything there Jesus already took care of that see so if he’s done that for you you ought to forgive people no matter what we have no justification at all whatsoever to forgive anybody because look at the the end of verse number 13.
why should you and I want to forgive all the time verse 13 it says just as the Lord forgave you so also should you so in other words being forbearing with people suffering along with them and forgiving others is being like Jesus that’s how you put on Jesus and then one last thing in verse number 14.
the cohesion of the new self notice what it says in verse 14 beyond all these things put on love which is the perfect Bond of unity it gives us Harmony some have referred to love that God works in our life as relational glue the existence of love in the body of Believers keeps it held together that’s why Jesus says you will know them by their love that’s all he said in that why because that’s what keeps us together oh all the the distinctions that we have the different backgrounds we have the different skin colors we have the different cultures we have the different things we are we’re so different God gives us Unity and gives us love for each other so those distinctions mean nothing they don’t cause division they cause Unity so we can do the work of God now just think with me for a moment about this Grand subject as you experience the love of the Father in heaven and Ponder how he treats you you will come to realize God’s love is the most wonderful thing in the world it is at the sender Center of what makes life Vivid and hopeful and worth living and fulfilled so you and me are called to put on these virtues because we present God in the world as his children of the king so loving others is being like Jesus so see this is the kind of clothing we have to wear so when you go through life and you go through your daily life you know when your clothing starts stinking is because you have not put on the right garment you have put on the old flesh you you reached in the wrong pile of dirty clothes and you put that on not even thinking about it and you go out in your world and before man you’re you’re like a bull in a child in closet wherever you go you’re you’re fighting with people you’re arguing you’re complaining you come home and then you realize your day didn’t go so well and you realize you put on the wrong clothing that day you stunk and you did not look like a child of the king I pray this morning that we all would want to be a person that’s controlled by the love of God who walks in the spirit of God no longer by the intentions of the flesh and when we do that that’s when we experience the fulfilled life so you must discard and be done with the old life and you must Command put on the new life if you don’t you will be a miserable Christian you will now God may allow you to go along like that for a while he may now allow you to leave the house with really stinky messy clothing and he may allow you to do that for a while but you’re going to find out you’re not fulfilled you’re actually discouraged you’re depressed you’re going to your medicine cabinet for help and you’re not coming to God for help and why because you haven’t been putting on the wrong clothing you’ve been dealing with this situation all wrong and right here it’s right here in this text all I have to do is put this on so you have to ask God every day to help you put these closing on and help to pick from the right pile see the new self is the born-again self it is the New Creation in Christ only the Christian has the capacity to consider themselves dead to sin and alive to God with the ability and will to Des to serve and please God and know how to do that see loving God’s word and loving God’s son includes hating sin with the desire to pursue righteousness therefore salvation is not a matter of improvement it is not a matter of perfection it is a matter of comprehensive transformation that the spirit of God is doing on you and I every single day and I don’t know about you but to me this is pretty simple I can pretty much evaluate my life every day to see how I’m doing you know and I dealt with somebody in Anger that day I have not put on the right clothing if I wasn’t patient with somebody like that I did not put on the right clothing if I didn’t love the person or had compassion on them and tried to meet their need I was not I did not have the right clothing on and I was not representing Christ I was representing the Old Kingdom the kingdom of darkness where Satan thinks he reigns so this morning when you put on these new clothes you won’t want to take them off because you will begin to experience the fullness of the Christian Life and what is that to be like Christ let’s pray thank you Lord thank you Lord for your word being so clear you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure these things out and Lord you didn’t write it that way you wrote it so the simplest person on this planet can get it and I thank you Lord that you’ve done that because Lord every day when we get up and we walk outside the door of our home I pray Lord that we would have the right clothing on so anything that’s thrown at us that day any person that comes across our path anything that a husband wife can deal with or a parent and children can deal with or people that we deal with on our job I pray Lord that you would give us the power of the spirit of God to put on the clothing that can show someone Christ by just the way we Act that may open up the door to share the gospel of Christ with them Lord use us in that way Lord we know you have a lot of work to do on us but I pray Lord we would give ourselves to that so we can experience what you want us to and I pray this in Christ’s name amen