“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” [1]
Though on numerous occasions some individuals accused me of advocating the power of negative thinking, on the authority of the Word of the Living God I hold the opinion that the best way to rid ourselves of that which dishonours the Lord is to fill our lives with that which displaces those qualities that dishonour God. If we want to be righteous, the appropriate way to rid ourselves of that which is unrighteous is to fill our lives with what is good and honourable. If we do this, there remains no room for that which is wicked and that which corrupts our lives. Practical holiness does not simply happen. We are declared holy in Christ; nevertheless, we are still responsible to cultivate those qualities that mark us as having been set aside for God’s purpose in this life.
If a follower of the Risen Saviour imagines that anyone can replace that which dishonours the Lord in our lives, that person must first know what honours Him. There is a problem, however. Simply knowing what is good is not sufficient for inculcating godliness in our life. As fallen creatures, we haven’t the power to cultivate the good in our lives. We must have the power of God Himself working in us to ensure that those elements worthy of His Name are incorporated into our lives. The message today seeks to encourage the people of God to cultivate those elements of life that glorify the Saviour. I will endeavour to point my listeners to the power of God at work in their lives to do what is necessary to enjoy His blessing.
WHO IS ADDRESSED? It is important for each of us to realise that the instructions provided in the Word are often not general instructions given to everyone. Those who are identified with this dying world are incapable of performing many of the tasks demanded by the Lord GOD. They have neither the inclination nor the ability to do what God expects of them. To demand that those who are not born from above and into the Family of God should fulfil the acts that please the Lord leads only to frustration, both for those who are outside of the grace of God and for those who are expecting righteousness of them. It is only those who have the Spirit of God living in them that have any hope of doing what God expects. This is the reason that the opening words of our text address us as “God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved.”
As mentioned in the opening words of this message, because of our fallen nature we haven’t the ability to do what is good, to do that which is holy and godly. Because of our weakness, if we will cultivate those qualities that honour the Lord, it will be necessary for us to draw upon a power that we don’t possess within ourselves. We will require the power of God Himself to accomplish the goal of incorporating those qualities that honour the Saviour. Fortunately, we have the means at our disposal to accomplish this admittedly impossible task. We have the Spirit of Christ living within us.
The wonderful truth is that the Spirit of God is the Spirit Who reveals the power of God in all that He does. Moreover, He supplies that power to those who walk with Christ and draw upon the power of His Spirit. Remember how the Apostle Paul spoke of the work of the Spirit throughout the letters which He wrote. For instance, writing the Christians gathered in Rome, Paul wrote, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ” [ROMANS 15:18-19].
Paul did exhibit the power of signs and wonders, and in this verse he confesses that it was by the power of the Spirit of God always working through Him that enabled him to fulfil the ministry of the Gospel which he had received. Here is the thing to hold onto as followers of Christ in whom the Spirit of God dwells—if the power of the Spirit of God equipped Paul to fulfil the ministry God assigned him, you may be assured that you have sufficient power to fulfil the ministry to which God has called you. What God calls you to do, He equips you to complete.
While I don’t want to exhaust you, I do want to assure you that the Spirit of God living in us supplies the power to save those who come to Christ in faith. You will no doubt recall how the Apostle has written, “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” [1 CORINTHIANS 1:18]. The follower of Christ need not listen to the voice of defeat nattering in the ear, for the Spirit of God is well able to bring us through this life and into the presence of the Father.
I hope we will each remember that God assures His people through what the Apostle wrote, promising, “Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ‘I believed, and so I spoke,’ we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence” [2 CORINTHIANS 4:13-14]. We shall be ushered into His presence, not merely in the spirit, but in reality. Hallelujah!
We worship Christ the Risen Saviour, and we know that He is the power of God, and more than that, the wisdom of God. Isn’t this is the truth that we discover as the Apostle opens his first missive to the saints in Corinth? The Apostle has written, “To those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ [is] the power of God and the wisdom of God” [1 CORINTHIANS 1:24]. Since the Spirit of Christ lives in us, we have access to the power of God and to the wisdom of God. No Christian ever need say that they haven’t the power to do what God appoints her to do. What God appoints us to do, He supplies the power to accomplish that task. No Christian ever need bemoan that he hasn’t wisdom to meet the demands he must face, for the wisdom of God is freely given to that one in whom the Spirit of Christ resides.
Writing the Corinthians in his second missive, Paul reviews his approach during his time with them. He writes, “I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” [1 CORINTHIANS 2:3-5]. Paul says that when he was with these saints in Corinth, despite his feelings, he revealed the power of God and the presence of the Spirit of God by what he said and how he presented the truths he presented. You, because the Spirit of God lives in you, need not depend upon polished and practised words, for the Spirit of God works powerfully in your life.
Jesus spoke to this very issue when He instructed His disciples, and thus instructed us who follow Him, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” [MATTHEW 10:16-20].
You may think that you haven’t anything to say that is worth hearing, or that what you say lacks power and credibility, but our Lord says that when you speak in His Name, pointing others to life in Him, the Spirit of His Father will be speaking through you. Your words, if you are acting in accordance with the will of the Master, are powerful. You are entrusted with incredible power to glorify the Risen Saviour.
Paul admits the same thing as he writes of the ministry he performed, a ministry that is not out of reach for any of us if we are prepared to permit the Spirit of Christ to work through us. Do you recall how the Apostle has written of his service to the Lord? “We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left” [2 CORINTHIANS 6:3-7]. Serving Christ, you have the power of God that will be unleashed as you allow Him to work through you.
Later, Paul would speak of the power that is ours as the Spirit of Christ works through us. He testified, “The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds” [2 CORINTHIANS 10:4]. The power which Christ has entrusted to us as His dear followers is powerful beyond all imagination.
We are trained in this life to boast in our education, to boast in the training we have received, but our training and our education inevitably proves insufficient to meet the challenges we face. And if our education and training are unable to win the day for us, we have learned to run over those opposed to us using the wealth we may have accumulated or we crush all others because we have somehow ascended to a position of power and authority. When education fails, when training proves inadequate, when wealth and power fail, we can answer those who oppose the Faith of the Risen Saviour. As followers of the Christ, we have been entrusted with power to meet the arguments and the suppositions raised against Christ and the Faith that still advances through the world. This power is given to each follower of Christ through the Spirit Who lives within.
Paul also testified, “[Christ] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” [2 CORINTHIANS 12:9]. We who follow the Risen Saviour must train ourselves to see our situation with the eyes of faith. Have you ever bemoaned that you could do so much more if only you had strength? Or money? Or power? In this verse, the Apostle is saying that such a view is wrong! What is needed is less of me and more of Christ working in my life! What is needed is more power, but specifically the power of Christ. And that means that I must cease bemoaning my own personal weakness.
You who believe you are restricted by reason of your age, whether imagining you are too young or concluding that you are too old, need to recognise that your supposed restriction is an opportunity for the power of Christ to be revealed in your life. When you are discouraged, thinking that an illness, or a physical handicap, or a lack of education are holding you back from serving Christ, I would encourage you to consider what is revealed in this particular verse. Boast in your weakness, because what the world sees as a limitation is an opportunity for Christ’s power to be revealed in you.
In one of the books published under the name of Watchman Nee, we read the account of a humble man who came to faith in China following the rise of the Communist Party as the ruling government of the nation. That simple peasant read in Scripture the words recorded in Mark’s Gospel as Jesus commissioned disciples. The passage reads, “Afterward [Jesus] appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover’” [MARK 16:14-18].
That man, only having believed and without benefit of a theological education and without access to churches as we enjoy in our own country, read these words and reasoned that he was responsible to preach the gospel to all he might meet. But, he reasoned, there are signs that will accompany the preaching of the gospel. What sign should he request of the Lord Who was sending him to preach. He determined that the best thing would be to lay his hands on the sick so that they could recover. Drinking poison wouldn’t do much to benefit others and picking up serpents wouldn’t be especially beneficial. Since he hadn’t money, he wouldn’t be travelling far beyond the region in which he spoke the dialect of the people, speaking in other languages wouldn’t be especially useful. Therefore, revealing the compassion of Christ by giving healing was what he decided was truly beneficial.
The man began to walk throughout the region, preaching the gospel that Jesus is the Christ, that He died a sacrificial death and rose from the dead, and that sins would be forgiven when an individual believed this truth. As he encountered people with various ailments, he laid his hands on them, praying for Christ to heal them. And God honoured that simple peasant’s faith, granting him the ability to bless others, and especially to be an instrument of grace to bring many to faith in the Risen Saviour.
What I want you to see in this illustration is that this man was restricted by a lack of education. I suppose that some might consider that he was blessed by that deficit. Regardless, this man didn’t have what many consider to be a necessity to carry out the work Christ assigns each of His followers. What would Christ have you do? You may be assured of this, He has given you His power so that you will fulfil His will and accomplish all that He has appointed you to do.
Allow me to speak to a couple of other Scriptures to encourage the people of God. In what would be the final missive he would write before his death, Paul urged Timothy, “Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God” [2 TIMOTHY 1:8].
I cannot tell you that you will never suffer because of your faith. In fact, Scripture seems rather clear in cautioning that embracing the Faith may well mean that you will suffer. Opposition will come even from those whom you love most, and the opposition may lead to expulsion from fellowships, even imprisonment and severe pain. What I can say on the authority of what the Apostle has written in this final letter to the man who had travelled with him on some of his most critical missions is that you and I can endure any suffering for the gospel by the power of God. God may not spare us from suffering, but God will give us His power when the suffering is the result of our alignment with the gospel of Christ the Lord.
I do want you to witness one other promise of power that will be witnessed in the life of the one who is known by the Father. Opening his first letter to the saints of the Diaspora, Peter wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” [1 PETER 1:3-5].
It is not possible to see the outcome of your faith, and those of this world are obviously incapable of knowing what God will ultimately do for us who believe. Nevertheless, the follower of Christ is marked with a living hope, a confidence of an inheritance that is reserved in heaven. And the follower of the Lord Jesus knows with certainty that he or she is now being guarded by God’s power so that the salvation that the Father has planned for you will be revealed in His time. That is enough to make even a Baptist shout! God’s power is guarding you, ensuring that the salvation which is yours through faith will be revealed in His time.
Listen as Paul instructs the followers of the Master concerning what shall take place shortly. Writing the saints in Salonica, Paul has written, “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words” [1 THESSALONIANS 4:14-18]. Notice in particular the fourteenth and seventeenth verses. “God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep,” and “so we will always be with the Lord.” Amen.
The words of our text are written for redeemed people, for those who through faith have looked to Christ for salvation. What is revealed in the words of our text are qualities that the world may appear to appropriate for a moment, but the qualities named can never be maintained by those who do not have the power of God resting on them. Lost people will be disappointed if they try to live as Christians are taught to live.
CULTIVATE THESE QUALITIES AS CHRISTIANS — “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” [COLOSSIANS 3:12-13].
The qualities listed in our text are not esteemed by the world. They are, however, necessary in the life of the follower of Christ. Paul addresses those who are recognised as “God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved.” Christians, those who are twice-born, are not followers of Christ by accident—they were chosen. Isn’t this what Peter reveals when he opens his first letter? “From Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those temporarily residing abroad (in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, and Bithynia) who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by being set apart by the Spirit for obedience and for sprinkling with Jesus Christ’s blood. May grace and peace be yours in full measure” [1 PETER 1:1-2 NET BIBLE]! Followers of Christ were “chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.”
Therefore, as the missive progresses, the Apostle to the Jews will affirm that though we may be rejected by those about us, we are “in the sight of God chosen and precious” [see 1 PETER 2:4]. In fact, we Christians “are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” [1 PETER 2:9].
His second letter will continue this emphasis on our having been chosen by God. We witness Peter as he writes, “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
“To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
“Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.”
The Apostle then provides the purpose behind his listing these admonitions for how we are to take control of our progress in the Faith, when he writes, “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble” [2 PETER 1:1-10 NASB 95].
We live as we do, diligently seeking to advance in our walk with the Lord through inculcating these various qualities because we want to assure ourselves of the divine calling we have received. We want to be assured that God Himself has chosen us, and we do this through advancing in the Faith. I do want to look at the qualities Paul has listed, briefly considering each of them in turn. I want us to know what should be revealed more and more in our life as those who are known by the Father.
The first quality Paul lists is compassion. Compassion is not especially valued in our world. We are trained in the world to admire the strong who impose their will on others, compelling them to obey. We are prepared to offer “thoughts and prayers” for people whose lives are turned upside down by adversity, but one must wonder how long the thoughts linger in the minds of the powerful who urge us to have such thoughts and prayers. Oh, politicians are prepared to redistribute the wealth of those who labour to make the nation strong. They do so to enhance their own position and to gain favour in the eyes of those who receive a token of the largess taken from the productive.
The next quality to be cultivated in the life of the follower of the Saviour is kindness. Kindness is too often seen as weakness in the world, or it is distorted into a means by which we attempt to seize power. Nevertheless, the child of God should be marked by kindness.
I recall a story told by a missionary who had observed a street urchin peering into the window of a pastry shop. The lad was staring at the foods displayed in the window. It was obvious that the boy was from an impoverished family, and that he had perhaps not eaten a balanced diet for some time.
The missionary watched the lad for a time, and then he went into the shop and bought a selection of the meat pies and the cakes. When they were boxed up, he went outside, walked to the boy, and handed him the box of foodstuffs. The little lad couldn’t believe his eyes as he stared at foods which were essentially unknown to him in his young life. At last, the lad looked up at the man and asked, “Mister, are you Jesus?” People should observe us in our work and wonder whether we are Jesus. Certainly, we should so live that Christ is seen through us.
Humility is rejected by most of mankind. Our great ones want to ensure that we acknowledge their power. Even Jill Biden demands that she be given her own music to identify her whenever she is introduced. “Pomp and Circumstances” may be demanded to announce those who want everyone to note their entrance, but it should not mark the presence of Christians. Our Master emphatically makes this quite clearly when He says, “When you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward” [MATTHEW 6:2].
I hurry to speak of the remaining qualities, perhaps giving them less attention than they deserve for the hour is rushing on. Meekness is too often represented as weakness. Such characterisation reveals a woeful misunderstanding of the concept of meekness, however. The LORD identified Moses as “very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth” [see NUMBERS 12:3]. You cannot read the account of Moses’ life and say that he was weak, but God said he was meek. All that is communicated in that is that Moses was strong, but he had his strength under control. You, if you are meek, will control yourself, control your feelings, control your reactions to the challenges of life, rather than being controlled by what happens to you.
Patience seems not to be highly prized among the denizens of this fallen world. I suppose it can’t be otherwise when we are trained by the world that we can have it all, and we can have it now! Why wait for what you want? A small payment down and easy biweekly payments for ninety-six months and it can be yours. After paying for months, we likely will grow tired of that item we just had to have and we will want a newer model. Again, helpful terms of finance and the encouragement provided by the seductive advertising that entices us make it almost impossible for us to resist. Soon, we will have that new item, and the endless process of desire and disappointment will begin again.
Bearing with others, or forbearance, is not seen as necessary nor even as commendable by many; yet, this grace is expected in the life of the child of God. Let’s admit something up front—the finest Christian can be unlovely and unlovable at times. Any of us can have a time when we are simply not at our best. At such times, we need someone willing to bear with us! We know that shortly we will need to bear with others.
The final grace that is to be cultivated is one that is too seldom witnessed among us. Forgiveness is used as a cudgel in far too many cases. We use it as though it was a means to compel compliance with our expectations. Forgiveness is not a matter of saying that we will forgive another provided they perform in accordance with our will. Forgiveness means that the one to be forgiven stands in our court and we refuse to punish them. Forgiveness is given without strings because that is how we received the forgiveness extended by our God.
And that brings us to the singular quality that reveals us as Christians. Paul writes, “Above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” [COLOSSIANS 3:14]. After every other quality has been embraced, know that without love, the only result we can anticipate in our life and in the various interactions we have with others is chaos.
We cannot help but conclude that God is telling us that if we cover all our efforts with love, the other graces will be expressed in due time. What is in view is not that sickly sweet treacle that passes for love in this dying world. Love is not an emotion; love is a choice. Love is the reflection of the presence of God’s Spirit working in us. And that is precisely what the Master told us when He said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” [JOHN 13:34].
Loving others demands that you remove yourself from the centre of your universe, exalting those others just as you have been exalted because you were loved by Christ the Lord. Love does not demand that everyone make concessions to you, but rather for the sake of Christ you are prepared to make concessions for others. Writing the saints in Rome concerning their insistence on ignoring offence against other believers, Paul admonished, “If your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding” [ROMANS 14:15-19]. That is a practical demonstration of how to love another! It is a statement anticipating what is written in the Ephesian Letter, where Paul writes, “Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” [EPHESIANS 5:2].
GOD’S GIFT TO OBEDIENT CHRISTIANS — “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful” [COLOSSIANS 3:15]. I confess that I am somewhat hard-pressed to decide whether peace and gratitude are to be included as graces which are to be cultivated along with those aspects of grace that we have already covered, or whether peace and gratitude are gifts that are divinely given to those followers of Christ who cultivate the characteristics already listed. I am inclined to fall on the side of the equation that sees peace and gratitude as expressions arising from within the life that has cultivated compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, and love. Nevertheless, I’m not prepared to dismiss the thought that these graces are divinely given to obedient Christians. Thus, I hold that as we believers obey the command to cultivate in our own life the characteristics we have just discussed, we will reap a harvest of peace and gratitude given by the Master. Allow me to repeat: as we obey the command to cultivate in our own life the characteristics we have just discussed, we will reap a harvest of peace and gratitude given by the Master.
Our Lord is gracious and kind; He delights to shower rich gifts on those who love Him. We should not be surprised that the Master gives His own people gifts of peace and gratitude. The gifts of God are always meant to bless His people. Among the people of God will be discovered love and ready acceptance of those whom Christ is adding to His church. To those who are coming into the Faith, seek out a sound congregation of saints where Christ is honoured and the Spirit of God reigns over the hearts of the gathered followers of the Saviour. There, you may be assured that you will be welcomed and there you will have the opportunity to grow strong in this Holy Faith.
I am speaking to those who have yet to unite with a congregation. I am bold to say that if you hesitate to unite with a congregation because you realise that you are new in the Faith and you are uncertain of your grasp of all the details associated with this holy Faith, I invite you to hear the command of the Saviour delivered to His churches. Our Lord charges His people, “As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand” [ROMANS 14:1-4]. Because Christ has welcomed you, we welcome you here.
We hold to the command of Christ to receive all who love our Saviour, Christ Jesus the Lord. We are taught, “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.’ For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” [ROMANS 15:1-7].
CULTIVATING CHRISTIAN CHARACTERISTICS — “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” [COLOSSIANS 3:16-17].
If we who follow the Master will honour Him as Lord of life, we must cultivate those characteristics that glorify Him. These verses instruct us to fill our mind with the word of Christ, and then instruct and encourage one another with that which has filled our heart. It is always interesting to me that the one with a heart filled with the word of Christ will sing. And the songs that will be sung are psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs that reveal the gratitude that fills our lives.
Two concepts leap out at me as I weight how we are to cultivate this graces in our lives: “one another” and “in the Name of the Lord Jesus.” We do not cultivate the graces expected in isolation from the assembly of the righteous. God has no secret service; rather, He has given us churches where we gather in order to build one another. I don’t deny that we are individually responsible to cultivate these graces, but the context in which we cultivate and hone these graces is in concert with the people of God gathered!
You will perhaps recall how the Apostle has taught us, “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up” [1 CORINTHIANS 14:1-5].
I realise that the immediate teaching focuses on spiritual gifts, but note the emphasis on building up the church. Focus in particular on the third verse which teaches us that we are to seek to build up, to encourage, and to console one another as we invest ourselves in each other’s lives. This is not a plea to become busybodies, but it is an admonition to remember that we must always seek the welfare of our brothers and sisters.
Again, whatever we do to cultivate these graces, we must always seek to walk in submission to the Risen Lord of Glory. Will we sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs? Then let us do so joyfully with true gratitude in our hearts to God Who redeems us and Who has given us a place in His family. Will we rejoice in the freedom we enjoy in Christ the Lord? Then, let our joy abound with thankful hearts that though the world imagines it can compel us to submit to its rule, we are free in Christ the Lord and not slaves to any within this fallen world. Above all else, let each of us determine that we will seek Christ’s glory, building one another in this holy Faith, encouraging one another to always look to the Risen Saviour, and consoling those in need of our consolation. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
