“So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.”
God’s words through His servant Moses to the nation of Israel help us understand that our salvation is by His grace alone.
“The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” Deut 7:7-8
This was a generation of people who had never known anything but slavery. Their decisions were made for them, they had what they had in the material sense only by the favor of the Pharaoh, and the only thing they knew of the God of their fathers was what had been handed down to them orally by their parents and grandparents.
The condition of the children of Israel in Egypt serves as a perfect type or example of mankind, enslaved to the power of sin and the fear of death.
Exodus 1:13-14 tells us:
“The Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously; and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously imposed on them.”
And we are thus reminded of the bitterness of a life of sin, the soul’s hard taskmaster that demands and drives and breaks down and destroys, and holds its victims in fear of death and whatever might come after death.
A few chapters later in Exodus, when God gives Moses the ordinances for the first Passover meal, He will instruct the inclusion of a sop of bitter herbs into which to dip their unleavened bread. Bitter herbs to remind them and their future generations as they taste it, of the bitterness of slavery under the Pharaoh’s cruel hand.
It was this bitter sop into which Jesus dipped His bread the same moment as His betrayer. I wonder… did their hands touch as they did so? At that moment did the thought pass through the mind of Jesus that as they dipped, Judas was steeped in the bitterness of sin, while He, the Christ, was about to take all that bitterness in His own body for the deliverance of all who would believe…?
Anyway, His people were enslaved in bitter and laborious circumstances and as He had promised to Abraham (Gen 15:13-14), He brought them out with many possessions. Why? Because they were His chosen and God remembers His promises.
God chose them. They did not choose Him, but He chose them simply because He loved them, and according to His grace alone He redeemed them, as Moses said, “…by a mighty hand…” out of slavery and into freedom and a new life in a new land.
Paul says here to the Colossians, “And so, as those who have been chosen of God…”
Some translations use the word ‘elect’. There’s nothing mysterious about the word; it means what it appears to mean. Picked out. Strong’s lexicon makes a very clear statement in defining the word and I pass it on to you here.
“God choosing whom he judged fit to receive his favors and separated from the rest of mankind to be peculiarly his own and to be attended continually by his gracious oversight.”
Christians, it is only the prideful audacity of our sinful nature that holds us back from fully accepting and believing the doctrine of God’s divine election. We want to think that at least to some small degree we had a part in our salvation, even if only by our assent to the truth and deciding to believe what was being presented to us – as though God was in part helpless to save until we consented.
We want to think that a just God would never pass anyone over and choose certain ones for salvation.
Fundamentally, the reason for our difficulty is that our sin nature wants to make God less than He is – wants to make Him in our image. He is not like us, He is infinitely above and greater than we, and He has made very clear in His Word that He in His sovereignty will choose upon whom He will have compassion and upon whom He will not; upon whom He will show mercy and upon whom He will not.
What this means for us, once we come to the end of ourselves and in humility and surrender receive by faith the truth of this doctrine, is that we can then be set free to comprehend with great relief the terrible doom from which we have been rescued and the great privilege and responsibility that is now ours, to live as those redeemed from the curse; from bitter slavery to sin; from the old master’s cruel labor; from the fear of death; by Christ alone, through grace alone.
LIVING THANKFULLY
Now I want to jump right down to the last words of today’s text, at the end of verse 15, and see that he finishes this particular admonition with, ‘…and be thankful’.
I bring that to your attention at this juncture because all the rest that he says here and our successful obedience to all that he says here, is contingent upon and dependant upon the level of thankfulness that abides in us toward God for what He has done.
Think about this. Except we harbor a true, humble thankfulness in our hearts for Christ and all His benefits to us, will we ever truly manifest out of ourselves these behaviors and these characteristics Paul lists in these verses?
Whether in the biographies we’ve read or learned of notable people in history, or the lives we have witnessed of those around us, perhaps in our own families or in close friends, one thing that stands out about the ones who have made the most positive impact is that thankfulness was manifest in their lives. They were the people who took nothing for granted, never acted as though the world owed them anything, were always looking for ways to help others, quick to express gratitude for what came their way, and thankful to God for His blessings even when they were in hardship.
An attitude of thankfulness is a mark of maturity in growing children. When they begin to express gratitude for what they receive from others is when we realize they are beginning to look outside of themselves and their own wants and needs and notice the graciousness and goodness of others toward them.
The same goes for the Christian life. Thankfulness to God and to those in the faith with us is a sign of spiritual maturity. It marks a coming to the end of ourselves so that our focus is on Christ and our brethren.
This is what Paul was going for when he said to the Philippians:
“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” 2:3-4
Such unselfishness can only come from a heart of thankfulness, because when we realize all that Christ has done for us and given us – when we understand that all that we are and have comes from His hand – that is when compassion and kindness and gentleness and patience and forgiveness become not only our duty but our delight.
LIVING FORGIVINGLY
This brings me to the next word I want to focus on from these verses today, and it is back up in verse 13, where Paul says, “…bearing with one another, and forgiving each other…”
There are two things being said here, of course. Bearing with one another would have to do with tolerance. That’s not always easy, is it? We’re not always tolerable.
And while we would all agree that we all ‘have our days’, so to speak, and may be a little more than the folks around us want to deal with at the moment, we would all agree also, I think, that there are some people who are pretty much always intolerable.
Now we would hope that with Christ in them and over time as the Holy Spirit does His sanctifying work they would change for the better. That doesn’t always happen, at least not as quickly as we would like. But we have to go back to the verse today and realize that he didn’t write, ‘bear with the bearable’, or ‘bear with one another until it gets tedious’. He wrote, “Bear with one another”, and we have to take it as it is.
But if you think that one is tough, go now to the next word. “Forgive”. I wonder if there is a sin among born again believers committed with more frequency or fervency than unforgiveness?
Unforgiveness is a deceitful thing. We can often tell ourselves and convince ourselves that we harbor no hard feelings for someone, but unforgiveness is a barbed lure. It gets its hooks way down inside where we bury things and it won’t let go. It festers and it tears and hurts us, not the one we’ve refused or neglected to forgive.
But once more, there are no conditions put on the admonition here. In fact Paul sinks it deep so there is no escape from it, when he adds, “…just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you”.
At the moment Jesus was raised up on Calvary’s cross, the unkindest, cruelest, most hate-filled act of wickedness and selfishness and greed and lust and cowardice ever committed by men was taking place.
The One who spoke all things into existence and holds all things together by the word of His power; the One who determined before the foundation of the world that He would suffer and die to pay the penalty for us; the One who had carefully guarded His people through the wilderness and graciously given them a home in the promised land; the one who had healed limbs and raised the dead and taught with patience and endurance, in humility and love,..
...was now nailed hands and feet to a rough-hewn timber, and raised naked and mocked in the hot sun to die a criminal’s death.
And what were His first words there? “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”.
This was not what was heard from this place of torture!
What was heard from crosses was cursing and swearing and hatred and vileness and cries of anguish and pleading and remorse and screaming...not forgiveness!
That is why the Roman soldier standing below was moved to exclaim, “Truly, this is a son of the gods”. He had heard it all...but never forgiveness!!!
Now I know that there are those here and reading this later who have been severely wronged in your life. I know that some of you have come a long, long way down the road since becoming a Christian, and there’s not a lot of evidence showing from you anymore, of the person you were before Jesus changed you.
I know there are folks here and reading this later who have memories that still burn when they touch the surface; and I know that there may be some who are saying inside a hurting heart, “Clark, if only you knew; you wouldn’t be saying I should forgive. If you knew what was done, if you could feel the pain, you’d understand that I just...can’t...forgive!”
And if you are thinking that, you are right.
I can’t understand. I can’t feel your pain. I don’t know what you went through then; I don’t even know what you’re going through now.
But brothers and sisters in Christ, I’m not the one telling you to forgive.
I’m not the one who can help you forgive. I’m not the one who has the right to demand that you forgive.
The one who knows, who understands, who has the right to demand, who can help you, is the One who has forgiven you so much, and continues to offer you forgiveness daily.
C.S. Lewis said it very succinctly:
“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”
Paul does not say this directly in Colossians, but Jesus Himself made the point that God cannot extend His forgiveness to one who refuses to forgive. In teaching the disciples to pray He included this phrase: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And in Matthew 18 He tells a parable, the moral to which is that if we do not forgive, God cannot forgive us.
Paul doesn’t just throw out the suggestion and leave us hanging though. He tells us how to go about having this relationship of forgiveness with one another.
It is something God has provided, just as He provided covering for Adam and Eve in the garden after the fall. But just as they had to put those garments on in order to show acceptance of His provision, so we must put on the provision He has made for us.
“...put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience...” he says in verse 12; and if you skip from there down to 14 he adds the most important element.
“...and beyond all these things, put on love, which the perfect bond of unity.”
So you see, although our tendency when confronted with the need to forgive is to cry, “I can’t do it! I don’t have it in me! This thing was too terrible, and I can’t get over it! I can’t forgive!” - the truth is that we’re not told to find it within ourselves; we’re not told that we should have the ability. We’re not even told that we should look at the thing we’re forgiving as not being so terrible, or that person not quite so guilty.
What we are instructed to do, is don the covering that God has provided. To go forth in Christ’s righteousness; not our own. To go in His strength and His provision.
Put on these things. Not, dig down deep and find these things buried within ourselves and bring them up...but PUT ON...
hearts of compassion
kindness
humility
gentleness
patience
love, ...the perfect bond of unity.
“...just as the Lord forgave you...
...SO ALSO SHOULD YOU
LIVING LOVINGLY
Well I made a quick reference to it a minute ago but zoom in closer to verse 14 and this other thing we are instructed to ‘put on’.
“And beyond all these things put on love…”
Listen to Matthew 5:43-48 from the Sermon on the Mount
“You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ 44 “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 “If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Did you hear the contrast between these words and the admonition of our text? Now I didn’t say discrepancy, I said contrast.
In Matthew Jesus told us to love our enemies, and He specifically said that there is no reward for loving those who love us – that’s expected, and it’s easy.
So when the Apostle exhorts us to love one another as believers, there should be no expectation of a pat on the back for doing so. It is our Christian duty to love one another as Christ loved us.
When we do not, and when to the contrary we gossip and backbite and despise one another out of jealousy and spitefulness and any number of other expressions of the fallen nature, we should not wonder at the lack of unity in the body, and the accompanying lack of fruit, lack of evidence of God’s blessing, lack of joy, lack of fellowship in the Spirit.
Let me approach that once more, on a positive note.
The NIV and a couple of the older translations indicate in verse 14 that the love the Apostle exhorts us to is the unifying factor of all these characteristics he has listed above.
So to paraphrase, he would be saying, “Put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, and tolerance and forgiveness, then be certain to put on Christ’s sacrificial love and exercise it toward one another, because that is the factor that unites the body through those other things”.
“Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9 For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Rom 13:8-10
LIVING PEACABLY
This one last word comes in here, and it can hardly be separated from the previous one.
“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts”
That could be translated, ‘let the peace of Christ act as arbiter’, or ‘let the peace of Christ preside’.
Remember that in this entire section Paul has been talking about Christian relationships. He has been talking about living with one another in the church and relating to one another in a way that is impossible for us apart from the unifying Spirit within each of us.
So he isn’t just saying a flippant, ‘Peace-out, Bro’. He’s not simply saying to us that if we are practicing all these other virtues he has listed that we will know peace and be at peace inside.
What Paul is talking about is the church of Jesus Christ living with one another in peace. That’s why he goes on to say, ‘to which indeed you were called in one body’.
Is there a difference between you and another believer? Let peace arbitrate. Let peace preside over the case.
How often do we witness the antithesis of this within the local church body, between churches in an association of churches, between church and the larger body of the Convention?
We are not to live with one another as fallen, pagan society lives and operates, Christians. We are to be radically different.
In our assemblies, between our churches, leadership to leadership and layman to layman, there has to be a coming to the end of ourselves and a putting on of sacrificial Christlike love, sincere thankfulness from the heart to God for all His mercies and benefits, and a deliberate and unselfish extension from one to the other, of these virtues in this list inspired by the Holy Spirit through the pen of the inspired Apostle, for the Colossian Christians and every one raised up with Christ until He calls us home.
John Davenant writes:
“They who are citizens of the same republic, are mutually called upon and bound to keep the peace; yet are they only united in one body politically: but they who are members of the Church, are united in one body supernaturally and mystically, so that they all depend upon one Head, and are quickened and informed as it were by one Spirit. This we are taught by the Apostle…that there ought to be no difference between the members of the same body, but the greatest harmony of spirit and sympathy.” COLOSSIANS – J. Davenant, Banner of Truth Pub
So I am going to end today on a note directed to all our brothers and sisters in our association of churches and our state affiliation and throughout our great Convention, and all who read this later can make their own applications of it.
We are called in one body to love, and to peace in all our dealings, and therefore to trust and mutual sharing of one vision – the furtherance of the good news of Jesus Christ in a lost and perishing world – and now is the time to put off the debates that divide and the arguments that halt ministry and grieve the Spirit.
Now is time to put on compassion and kindness, humility and gentleness, patience and tolerance and forgiveness, so that by His mighty hand God might once again deliver His people from bondage and set them free to walk in unity behind their Master, their Leader, their Redeemer, their Lord, and both live and work together for His glory alone.
May the Lord grant us all grace and wisdom to desire to come to the end of ourselves and have hearts for one another and for Him.
