As we listened to that passage from Colossians this morning, the first thing we heard Paul telling his readers to do was to clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, goodness and patience.. As we listened to that list of qualities various things could have gone through our minds. We may well have listened to the list and thought; "Yes, that’s the ideal character. That’s the sort of person I’d like to be".
Some may have thought, "Well! That is me! That reflects me; that really is me!" If you thought that you’ve probably got something of a problem.
Or you could have thought: "Well, that’s a weak kind of character. That’s not the sort of person who’s going to cut any ice in today’s world. To get on in today’s world you’ve got to show very different sort of characteristics. There’s no point in being compassionate. We’ve got to push ourselves forward. We’ve got to be hard. We’ve got to be go getting." Isn’t that the way so many people think today? They probably look down on those sorts of characteristics, sadly.
I hope not many of us were of that last line of thinking. It’s the way the world thinks. That’s the way that God’s enemies think. That way of pushing myself forward, pushing myself forward is really the very essence of sin. We have to remember whom Paul is writing to. Because he begins by saying As God’s chosen people. In other words these aren’t very natural characteristics. In fact Paul had to tell even his Christian congregation, his Christian readers to clothe themselves with these qualities.
If we go one step further back, Paul is addressing them as God’s chosen people. Christians are Christians because God has chosen them. That’s something that’s not very clearly taught or understood today. It’s a myth that a person decides to become a Christian. Of course it’s true, we do have to make a decision. But it’s not something that comes out of our human nature. It’s something we’re stimulated to do in the first place by the Spirit of God working upon us. It’s something we do as God’s chosen people. That can banish any sort of pride, any sense of superiority. If we are Christian, it is only because God’s Holy Spirit has brought out spirit to life.
Then as Christian people we have to ’clothe ourselves’; clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, goodness and patience. These are qualities we have to ’put on’. like we put a suit of clothing on, or something that we wrap around ourselves. Not as a sort of exterior veneer, but qualities that we put on so that they may grow to become part of what we really are. And qualities which can only grow thus because the Spirit of God is within us. If we compare that list with the one Paul makes in Galatians as the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace. patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control we see the same sort of character don’t we because it’s the character of Jesus Christ himself.
If we go back to verse 10 we would have read that Paul tells his readers at Colossae to put on the new self which is being renewed in the knowledge and image of its creator. Christians are being made anew in the mage of their Creator. We all are made in the image of God; that image is marred by sin, ruined by sin. But as we come to Christ, as we become Christian then that image is renewed and restored in us. The Holy Spirit endues us with these qualities, which se still have to actively put on. Being a Christian, living a Christian life is not something which occurs spontaneously or automatically. It doesn’t just happen. We don’t just sit back and do nothing about it. Rather, we do have to actively strive to be compassionate, kind and so on.
And the other things which Paul mentions too: Bear with each other, he says, forgive each other, and what greater motive is there to forgive each other that Jesus Christ himself has forgiven us. Because he has forgiven us so much. How can we refuse to forgive our brother or sister their small and trivial offences? And over all these virtues, says Paul, put on love which binds everything in perfect unity.
The American commentator John Macarthur says this:
Love is the beauty of the believer dispelling the ugly sins of the flesh that destroy unity.
"Love is the beauty of the believer". And there should be something of that beauty of Christ (the ’fragrance’ of Christ as Paul puts it somewhere in his letters) in every believer or else there is something seriously wrong.
One of the best-known and best-loved passages of the Bible Paul says that without love then anything we do, anything we are is worth nothing. Paul says he could have all knowledge, that he could prophesy, he could move mountains, he could give his body to the flames, but without love that entire impressive list is valueless.
And it is love which binds everything in perfect unity. This means that we can see the measure of how much the love of Christ dwells within a Christian congregation, within a Christian fellowship by the degree of unity. Is a Christian congregation or fellowship divided within itself? Then there is very little of the love of Christ in its members hearts. Sadly the history of the Christian church we see so much of that lack of unity; a lack of the love of Christ. And Paul is saying over all these virtues put on love "Put it on". Yes, it’s the fruit of the Holy Spirit within us but still our human flesh wants to go the other way, and wants to seek self. Constantly we have to remind ourselves that we are Christians and strive to be like our Lord. Jesus Christ, for then the Holy Spirit will in deed make us like him.
So far we have had the Christian character, the character of Christ which we are exhorted to put on, clothe ourselves with described and now we are given next the foundations upon which that character building, that "putting on" must rest.
We are first to let the peace of Christ rule in (our) hearts
Second we let the word of Christ dwell in (us) richly and
Thirdly we whatever (we) do...do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.
So let’s look at each of these three things in turn.
First of all the peace of Christ
Now peace, in the scriptural sense isn’t just absence of conflict. It’s something much more positive, much more dynamic. It’s not, as I once heard it put, relaxing in Grandma’s rocking chair. There’s a dynamic in the peace of Christ and it depends on the fact that the peace of Christ is really like a peace-treaty. When he died on the Cross, Jesus- if you will, made a peace-treaty between God and us. Paul says in another of his letters God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (2 Cor 5:19) By our sinful natures we were in fact God’s enemies. Christ made the peace treaty and that peace which Christ brings it to be the guiding fact which rules in the sense of being the decision-maker, the decisive factor in what we do and don’t do; of what’s right and what’s wrong.
Is what we do in accordance with that peace which Christ bought on the Cross, or is it something against that; something which actually puts us back at enmity and at loggerheads with God? If it is, then it’s something we are to studiously avoid. We are to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. For, says Paul, we were called to peace. We were called, when God called us, to live at peace with him. That peace, I repeat, is not just the absence of conflict. The peace of Christ in our hearts produces a whole new dynamic, a whole new way of living, a way of living at harmony with God: with God, for God, with God in Christ working through us. That is of the essence of being a Christian.
Second the word of Christ should dwell in us richly
Of course the ’word of Christ’ really means the Scriptures. All the Scriptures are the word of Christ. Christ is described at the beginning of John’s Gospel as ’the Word’ In the beginning was the Word and the was with God and the Word was God. Jesus Christ is the incarnate word of God and the word is contained for us also in the Holy Scriptures.
Today is ’Bible Sunday’ and we remember the special place, which the Bible holds, or should hold in the Christian life. Sadly for so many today it doesn’t. Many Christians today just seem to want to question the Bible, to see whether it sits alongside the modern world-view, modern ways of thinking. Other people add in other scriptures from other religions. Our Prime Minister claims to be a Christian and takes the Koran with him wherever he goes. Maybe many would make a conglomerate of the whole. For the true Christian, there’s only one guiding principle. and it’s not in the writings of other faiths. It’s in the Bible. God’s word to us. How can we know anything of the infinite, sovereign Lord other than what he chose to reveal to us?
Yes, he showed himself in time and space for a period of 30 years; he revealed himself in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. For all men, for all time he reveals himself in the book.
Now, of course, our belief isn’t in a book. Our belief is in the Person who is revealed in the book, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. This book is his word. Paul says let it dwell in you richly. That means the Bible should find its home in us. And richly, abundantly. So many Christians today do not read their Bible. There’s only a small minority of Christians who read their Bible daily. What a sad commentary that is on 21st century Christianity! Small wonder that the Christian churches cut so little ice, when it seems to hold the Word of God in such contempt! Here again I say Paul tells us to let the word of Christ dwell in you richly so that you can teach and admonish each other. Teach with wisdom that word gives.
Thirdly, whatever we do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus
The Name of Jesus is a powerful name. There is no other name above his. It has power; power to cast out demons, power to present our prayers before the throne of heaven. And we are to do all in His Name. And in the biblical sense, the name of a person is not just a tag for recognition, but that which defines his very character. So we ought to do everything in accordance with the character of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The peace of Christ, the word of Christ, the name of the Lord Jesus. These are the foundation stones upon which we shall be able to put on our Christian clothing. Without these foundations we shall not be able even to begin the task.
Finally there’s one little phrase in each of these three verses 15 to 17.
At the end of verse 15: and be thankful
At the end of verse 16: with gratitude in your hearts
At the end of verse 17: giving thanks to God the Father through him
When as Christian people, we think of what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us, when we think of the sacrifice of himself he made upon the Cross, when we think of the fact that he has called us to be his own, when we think of his life he offers us, the peace he gives us, of the gift of his Holy Spirit, should we not be thankful? Should not thankfulness be at the core of our lives?
And if thankfulness is at the core of our lives, will we not strive to clothe (ourselves) with compassion, kindness, humility, goodness and patience?
bearing with each other, forgiving each other and putting on love as the primary virtue? All these things we shall strive to do, want to do as we are thankful. Let us take time daily to think of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us. Let us thank him daily for our salvation and then maybe we shall just want one thing above all else: to become more and more like him.
