Love, the perfect bond of unity

Colossians 3:14–17 NASB95

Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 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 richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

a. Love unites the body of Christ (3:14-15)

b. Love grows our thanksgiving to Christ (3:16-17)

1. INTRODUCTION

a. Love is one of those topics that most humans will know through experience. People understand love by how they receive it or the lack thereof receiving it and many people don’t understand love because they think that it is primarily an emotion. But this is where the Word of God is so powerful because it explains to us exactly what love is. In 1 Corinthians 13:3-5, Paul gives us a definition of what love is. Paul writes that love if patient, kind, not jealous, does not brag or is arrogant, does not act unbecomingly, does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. Then Paul writes to summarize, that love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

b. With this understanding of what love is, Paul helps us to understand the importance of love in any relationship, not only our personal walk with Christ, but also our walk with others.

2. BODY

a. Love unites the body of Christ (3:14-15)

i. Paul begins verse 14 by summarizing but also stating what is the climax of Christian virtue. Paul emphasizes here, beyond all the things I’ve said to you so far, the greatest thing you can do is to put on love.

ii. But we can never forget that if we are to put on these things, we must first put off our sinfulness. We must take those clothes off inorder to put on the clothes that Christ is calling us to put on.

iii. And Paul reminds us here that beyond all the clothing you have put on, the last thing you must put on is love. As I have mentioned that these verses are speaking of taking off and putting on clothing, Paul is telling us that you have put on these clothes so far. I have told you to bear with each other, to forgive each other.

iv. But the coat that we are to wear before we go out is to put on your coat. What is your coat? It is to put on love. Paul is reminding his listeners that this coat, this outer garment is what keeps everything else together.

v. When we think about cold weather, the reality is that we must wear our shirt, our pants, our socks, maybe even gloves. But if we wear these things, and we don’t wear our coat, the reality is that we won’t be warm. Our coats, or jackets are what keeps us warm.

vi. Paul is reminding us of this very idea. Even if we put on these clothes, and yes they will keep us warm, if we don’t have our coats, then we will still be cold. This is what Paul is emphasizing. It doesn’t matter if you are bearing with one another, or forgiving one another. You can do this with the wrong mindset. You can do these things because you don’t want to fight with the person or because you know that if you do these things, your wife or husband won’t bother you.

vii. We end up doing these things sometimes because we don’t want to fight and we think it’s easier if we must say the correct things or we agree with things we don’t necessarily agree with because we don’t want to upset our loved ones. And this attitude is exactly what Paul is addressing. The way to bear with someone correctly and to forgive someone correctly is not outwardly. It is inward and the only way to do this is to love them.

viii. This is why Paul says that love is the perfect bond of unity. We must put on love so that we can do all of these virtues with the right mindset. We can outwardly do all of these things but inwardly not do it in love. I am reminded of when I was a kid and I was told to do chores around the house like wash the dishes or clean the house. I did it because I was told to do it by my parents not because I wanted to do it. But if we consider our parents and their love for us and we see how much they struggle because of us, when we do this, we put on love and are doing it with the right mindset because we want to help them. This is what Paul is speaking of here. He is reminding us that anything can be done with the wrong mindset. But when you put on love, love corrects our inward heart. It causes us to do all things in a way that honors God.

ix. Which leads us to verse 15 where Paul writes to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. Interesting that Paul says to let the peace of Christ rule your hearts. This idea of rule means to let the peace of Christ determine the outcome. Always think in light of the peace of Christ. What is the peace of Christ then? It is to know that we were once at war with God, but through the death and resurrection of Christ, we have peace with God. It is to know that God no longer is our enemy but now He is our friend.

x. Therefore, when dealing with others in the church, always let this peace, the fact that we are no longer enemies with God because of Christ determine how we build relationships with others in the church. We should not look at others as enemies, but recognize that we have all been purchased by Christ.

xi. This is why Paul writes to let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. In your hearts denotes the fact that Christ has called these people. It shows us that the new man is now here and the old man has been put off. Paul is reminding all believers that this is not a suggestion but a command. If you say you are a believer, than you should be doing this. Why? Because God has called you to do this. God has called you to be a part of this body and in order to be a part of this body and to grow this body is to let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.

xii. Many people say that they don’t want to go to church because the church is full of hypocrites (위선자). But this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Why? Well think about it as if you are going to the gym to make muscle. You don’t go to the gym and say “wow, why are all these people here fat and have no muscle?” We would think that’s ridiculous. Of course there are some people who go to the gym who are out of weight or out of shape. That’s normal. That’s the reason why they are there. Well that’s the same thing as the church. The reason why hypocrites are in the church is because we are all sinners. When we look at the church and say it’s full of hypocrites and I don’t want to go there, what it means is, that I believe I am not a hypocrite. I believe that I am not a sinner and I am better than these people. But this is the exact reason why Christ came. It was to redeem hypocrites and sinners, not perfect people. This is why the church is full of sinners and hypocrites. We shouldn’t be surprised by others, but rather understand, that they are here because they need forgiveness just like me.

xiii. This is where we must start. We must start that we were all at war at one time with God, but through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have been called children, not because of our goodness, but because of His grace, and because of His grace, we have peace with Him. Paul is saying, when dealing with others in the church, start with this peace that you have with God and let that be the guide in how you deal with others in the church. Don’t look at other people who are out of weight and out of shape, but look at yourself and look at the peace you have with Christ and let that shape your relationships with others.

xiv. Paul concludes verse 15 by telling us that the result of knowing the peace of God, when we are guided by the peace of God, is thankfulness.

b. Love grows our thanksgiving to Christ (3:16-17)

i. This is a continuation in verse 15, the tail end. Paul concludes verse 15 by saying, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts and be thankful. How are we to be thankful? Yes, I understand that we should let the peace of Christ be our compass and guide us. But Paul explains further by saying, and let the word of Christ richly dwell within you in verse 16.

ii. The Word of Christ here might make sense that it’s talking about the word of God, but it is better understood when we translate it to the message regarding Christ or the message that proclaims Christ. It is the truth of who Christ is and what He has done.

iii. Why do I say this? Because of what Paul writes after, Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you. Richly here refers to abundance, simply meaning, let the word of Christ fully dwell within you, literally, let the word of Christ to find its home within you. Richly here signifies that it should not be a temporary thought but a permanent thought in our hearts and a penetrating thought in us that has transforming power in our lives.

iv. This is why as this truth dwells within our hearts and transforms our lives, Paul says that the truth would cause us to teach and admonish one another with psalms and spiritual songs, and it causes us to sing with thankfulness in our hearts to God. This is important that Paul writes this because teaching and admonishing helps us to see the full picture of what we as Christians are to do.

v. We see this earlier in Colossians 1:28 when Paul writes that we proclaim Him, Christ, admonishing and teaching every man with all wisdomso that we may present every man complete in Christ. We see clearly that teaching and admonishing here is different. What’s the difference? Teaching we understand is explaining things about a certain topic that people don’t know and presenting the information to people who have never heard the truth. In essence, it is to reveal ignorance. But the importance here is the word admonish. Admonish (직면) here refers to confront as a friend. Admonishing others is to confront others to not only to reveal ignorance but to correct ignorance. Teaching is to help people understand sound doctrine and admonishing is to make sure people don’t fall astray to false doctrine.

vi. Now we can take this extremely the wrong way. Admonishing always must be done in love. This is why the logical statements following 1:28 to 2:2 is what? It’s that Paul labors to teach and admonish not so that he would be right, but he struggles so that they would have a full knowledge of Christ.

vii. Now up to this point, you might be saying you’re right I agree with all this. See I should correct people and admonish them, confront them , correct them. You see, the Bible clearly states here that we should confront them, and that is the loving thing to do. This is why we should confront everyone when they do something wrong and call them out for their mistakes.

viii. I would say yes, and I agree. We should confront others and cause them to have a full knowledge of Christ. But for those of us who think that it’s correct to admonish and confront others, we have to read what Paul writes. Notice the result of confrontation. We should be singing with thankfulness in our hearts to God. You see, when we confront others about their sins, what should their reaction be to us? They should be thankful in their hearts to God. What does this mean? It means that we have corrected someone’s ignorance in so much love that they are thankful in their hearts to God for us confronting them.

ix. What we have to understand is that confrontation is never easy. I don’t think anyone takes confrontation well. We might externally show that we are taking confrontation well, but the goal is not an outward thankfulness. It is rather, an inward thankfulness. How do we accomplish this inward thankfulness? It is by allowing the message of Christ to dwell richly in us, so much that it changes us and our hearts. Because the word of truth is so penetrating in our hearts, it causes us to focus not so much on our brother or sister’s mistakes, but rather, their heart.

x. Paul is telling us that when the message that proclaims Christ, the truth of who Jesus is and what He has done, the Gospel of Christ, when this message truly penetrates me, then it will allow me to focus on the person’s heart rather than winning an argument. This is why Paul writes that when we correct and admonish correctly, our hearts will be filled with thankfulness toward God.

xi. This is why in verse 17, what is the logical statement that Paul makes? Paul says, whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of Jesus giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

xii. Paul’s statement to close this section is therefore, whatever you do, let your mind be governed by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not simply that our worship should be centered around Christ, but the totality of our lives must be centered on Christ. The hint we get is, to do all in the name of the Lord. This does not mean to utter the name of Jesus when we do things, but rather, to act always in line of who Christ is and to act in a manner that is worthy of Him.

xiii. What does this signify? When we act in a manner that is worthy of Him, it conveys to us that the mark of the Christian life is obedience. It is to live like Christ and to do what Christ wants of us. Therefore, whatever we do, we should do by giving thanks to Him and because we are thankful to Him in our hearts, this causes us to obey all that He commands of us. This is what it means by Paul’s statement of whatever you do in word or deed. It’s not just thinking these things. It’s not just knowing these things. It’s about knowing the truth which so powerfully penetrates our hearts, that it brings about action. This is the sign of true Christian character. It is to be thankful and to obey.

3. CONCLUSION