A Dress Code For Christians

Colossians 3:1-17

12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. 16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

Introduction

In the preceding verses in chapter 3, Paul reminds us that we have been raised with Christ.

He calls for us to focus on the things of heaven rather than the earthly things.

We’ve been born again and have been given new life and are to put to death the sinful desires.

We are to throw away our old clothes of sin and dress ourselves in new spiritual life are to match our heart.

God judges by the spiritual clothes we wear.

In the previous verses 5-9, Paul gives a list of the items that should never be a part of a Christian’s wardrobe:

Sexual immorality

Impurity

Lust

Evil Desires

Greed

Anger

Rage

Malice

Slander

Filthy Language

Lying

These are the dirty clothes one wears before being raised with Christ.

Upon being raised with Christ we are shed of these filthy rags.

Before one can be in full communion with Christ the old sinful clothes must be stripped off.

When I was a child, my brother and I loved to play outside when it rained. There was a spot in our back yard that would make for a large puddle in the grass and we enjoyed running and sliding headfirst into the puddle. Just imagine the filthy mess we would be after spending any amount of time sliding and rolling in the wet and sloppy grass on a rainy day. After we were done we would go to the back door and my mom would have us to strip down to our underwear before we could enter the house. She wouldn’t allow us to enter with all the filth and grime all over us. This is what Paul is writing about here in his letter to the believers in Colossae. He is telling them they must remove their filth of sin before they can be presentable before God.

Let’s review the new spiritual clothes that should be in our new wardrobe given in verses 12-15:

Mercy

Kindness

Humility

Gentleness

Patience

Forgiveness

Love

These are the clothes of our salvation and we should be overjoyed to wear these clothes as written in Isaiah 61:10, “I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation

and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels.”

Why would we ever want the old clothes of sin ever again when we’ve been given a brand new wardrobe?

We should be like the woman in this story:

A woman went to the police station to report her husband as missing. She described him as 29 years old, six foot three, athletic, and handsome. The sergeant shook his head and said, “Wait a minute, lady. I know your husband. He’s 50, short, and plump.” The woman said, “Sure he is, but why would I want him back?”

God calls us to put on new spiritual clothes that represent Him and His kingdom.

Jesus should be on all of our clothing labels.

If the clothes you are wearing do not represent Jesus, then you are bad out of style.

What clothes are you wearing?