Put On…Put Off…-Colossians 3:8-10

Transform and conform are two words that sound similar but mean two completely two different things. If you go hunt in the woods you put on camouflage, get up in a stand, sit in a blind, do whatever you can to conform to your surroundings. All you are merely doing is blending in. It would be a transformation if I could turn into a different animal to go hunting. Conforming is just trying to match your surroundings, and we do that in out everyday lives. You talk to one group that likes sports about sports. One group likes history so you talk history. One group enjoys hiking. One group enjoys video games. One group enjoys large gatherings. One doesn’t. In each of those we adjust ourselves to the environment around us to fit in, to be welcomed and accepted. That is what we want.

Unfortunately, many try to do the same with Christ. They conform to a standard that they have set or a church has set, so they put on the Christian camo in order to fit in. Sing a few songs, bow when its time for prayer, take the Lord’s Supper, maybe put something in the plate, and they are good to go. They have successfully fit in for their 1-2 hour commitment with this group. But then life goes on just as they were living it. Conformation is not what Christ calls for, He calls for transformation.

Romans 12:2 ESV

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Some make the claim “I am who I am” or “I can’t change” and we make the excuse for others saying “They’ve always been that way.” According to what we had just read, Christ calls for transformation, meaning change. “Old dog’s can’t learn new tricks?” Last time I checked, you’re not a dog, you are a creation of God who has been given the capacity to think, reason, and change. If God didn’t think it was possible, then He wouldn’t have said it.

Colossians 3 gives us good insight of what that transformation looks like. It walks hand in hand with Ephesians 5, but we will spend most of our time in Colossians 3.

Seek God

God does not hide Himself. He has made Himself known throughout all time for anyone willing to search for Him. For a Christian, an immersed believer, our priority now becomes seeking after Him. Our desire should be to chase after our creator and not the things of this world.

Colossians 3:1–4 ESV

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Some seek after God just long find what they want but never what they need. This is something called the Dunning-Kruger Effect. This is a type of cognitive bias, a bias towards ourselves and our abilities that we overestimate what we know and what we can do. So many learn just enough about God to “do the right things” but never know enough about Him to form a lasting relationship. Their relationship is shallow, superficial, convenient, and transactional.

One of the descriptions of the church is the bride of Christ. If my relationship with my wife is shallow, superficial, convenient, and transactional, then my marriage will fail. If I spend my life chasing her, seeking after her, my marriage will grow stronger. We will learn how to better live with each other. We will learn how to better communicate, care, and cherish each other. The same with God, if I spend my life seeking after God, I will spend my life learning how to live with and for God.

Isaiah 55:6–7 ESV

6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

These words are written as the looming danger of Babylon is on Israel’s doorstep. Let the warning be for us also as there will be one day in which won’t be found, because Christ will have come back and it will be judgment day.

Get rid of whats carnal

The word carnal is used to describe physical desires. These earthly desires are what ultimately separates us from God. Not only do these separate us from God, there is a punishment coming. God’s wrath isn’t something to be messed with. If one of our judges put someone with a speeding ticket on death row, would he be just? No, that is going beyond the law. If that same judge let a mass murderer off scott free, would he be just? No, because that judge does not uphold the law. We have a God who is merciful and gracious and loving, but in that love is justice. If He did not uphold His own law, He would not, and could not, be just.

Colossians 3:5–6 ESV

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming.

This is further emphasized in Galatians 5.

Galatians 5:19–21 ESV

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

It is important for us to know that we are to put all these things away. They should have no part in our lives. Of course, when we take these things away, they must be replaced with something. You don’t create a hole and expect everything to be alright. It must be filled, otherwise it gets filled back in with the same things, or worse.

Colossians 3:7–11 ESV

7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Why does Paul remind the church throughout multiple books that “you once walked” in these ways? Because we forget. We look in the world around us and say that is evil, that is of Satan, that is unholy, and we forget we once were un holy as well. We stand amazed at how evil the world can be. Consider the attack in New Orleans and the Triple homicide in Greene County. Why are we surprised when the world acts like the world? And we might say, “I’ve never murdered anyone,” but when was the last time you lost your temper? When was the last moment you spent time gossiping? When was the last time you told a lie? Men, when was the last time you let them eyes wander a little too long towards another woman? I say this as we have all probably struggled with these things recently.

Galatians 5:22–24 ESV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

How Christ Manifests in the World

What does it mean to put on Christ. It means to become like Christ. People should be able to look at you and say, “That person looks like Christ.” The way we live should be as if Christ were standing in our spots.

Colossians 3:12–14 ESV

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 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. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Jesus told the disciples “They will know you are my disciples by your love.” That is why when asked what is the greatest command, Jesus gives two: Love the lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself. It begins with these three verses and how these internal qualities present themselves externally to our brothers and sisters and to the world. The world should not see a group of people that are vindictive, but a group of people that wants the best for everyone and to be closer to God. We won’t achieve that if we look just like the rest of the world. After all, why should a person be a Christian if our lives look no different than theirs?

Paul brings this section to the chapter to a close by giving a call to peace and action. How can we say we have God with no peace and no action towards Him.

Colossians 3:15–16 ESV

15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 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.

The last verse of this chapter sums up everything we have read just nicely.

Colossians 3:17 ESV

17 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.

Ephesians 5:1–2 ESV

1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.