A Putting On (Colossians 3:12-17)

A Putting On

Colossians 3:12-17

Sunday, August 9, 2026 — Land O’ Lakes Bible Church

Introduction

Please take out your Bibles and open with me to Colossians 3:12-17. If you are using the Church Bibles there in your seats, you can find that on page #1170.

Thanksgiving in August…

Main Point: Give thanks and pursue holiness if you are in Christ; for you are chosen and loved and set apart by God because of your union with Christ.

1. The Chosen People of God

2. The Clothing of God’s People

3. The Love of God’s People

4. The Response of God’s People

I. The Chosen People of God

Earlier in our service during our Scripture Reading, we read from Deuteronomy 7. There we read that the Lord has chosen a people for himself as his treasured possession. A people chosen out of all the peoples of the earth. A people chosen and loved by God. And because they were chosen and loved by God and that he had entered into covenant with them, there response was to be a pursuit of holiness, an obedience to his commandments.

This people of course being that of the people of Israel. For it is this people that God had delivered out of slavery from the land of Egypt, who were delivered and promised to enter the land of promised rest.

But now, here in our passage, surrounded by similar imperatives of Deuteronomy 7, these Colossian Christians are being told that they are God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved. People who do not belong to the line of Israel, but to that of Gentiles. That is, they were not of Jewish decent.

And yet, despite this origin, the language of Deuteronomy 7 is used for them. The reasoning for this is found previously in Colossians, Colossians 1:26, telling us the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations is now revealed to God’s saints. That now God is making his greatness known even to the Gentiles of Christ in you.

 That is, the mystery now revealed is that God’s chosen people are not that of ethnic Israel, but that of true Israel. Those who both looked forward with faith to the coming of Christ with eager expectation. Just consider those in the Hall of Faith as presented in Hebrews 11. And at present, those who now look backwards to the fulfillment of these promises in the Beloved Son of God, Jesus.

Jesus is the substance of God’s plan of redemption. It is in being united to him by faith that marks the chosen people of God. This is why then there in Colossians 3:11, we read (v.11) …

God’s chosen people then are not then identified as those of ethnic Israel or any other ethnicity. They are not those of a particular social class. The chosen people of God are not those of any subset of humanity. It is made up of those who have received Christ and who are in Christ and who are filled with Christ. For he is all and in all of God’s people! This is what defines God’s chosen people, that they are Christians!

And because God has chosen them in Christ, then they are those who have been declared holy by God through Jesus and are the beloved of God! To borrow the language from Deuteronomy 7, these are those who are God’s treasured possession.

It is then this statement, this truth about who we are in Christ then that is to stir us to a right response to who we have been made in Christ, which we will get to momentarily.

But first, we need to consider why this truth is so crucial to what surrounds it with these calls to put off and these calls to put on.

We are to put off and to put on, not as a means of earning our salvation. Nor are we to put off and put on as a means of earning more of God’s favor and trying to please him.

Our putting off the things of old and putting on the things of new are to be driven by our response to this glorious truth. The truth that if we are in Christ, we are God’s chosen people, holy and beloved.

Our putting off and putting on is in response to God’s love for us in Christ and what Christ in us is doing.

For consider this, in borrowing from Romans 5:8, but God shows his love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The righteous for the unrighteous. The guiltless for the guilty. For this is manner in which God’s love has come down upon us in this great exchange. Or to borrow again from Paul elsewhere, his words there in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

God’s love was not withheld from us, in the giving of his own Son here for these purposes. So that we could be made into his chosen people in Christ. For no longer does God see us for who we were, he sees us now in our union with Christ.

A people whom he loves and that he has chosen for himself! And this is the stir our hearts onward towards desiring the things of God, in knowing his love for us and his choosing of us.

For just as this is true in marriage, that when you know you are loved and continually chosen by your spouse, your desires and affections for them increase and swell, the same is true here with God.

The knowing we are chosen and loved by him is what is to stir our affections and desires. Knowing how he has chosen us to be reconciled in Christ, to be filled with Christ, to be brought from death to life in Christ! All of this is to motivate us onward in our seeking the things of Christ above!

So beloved saints, hear this reminder, because you are now united to Christ by faith, you are God’s chosen people, and you are being set apart, and you are deeply loved by God. Therefore then, as we consider the next three points, let us respond accordingly to this love as our love to God continues to increase!

II. The Clothing of God’s People

Look now to the whole of verse 12 …

Just as a list of traits of worldliness was given back in verse 5 to be killed, so now a list of characteristics of Jesus are being given to be put on.

But saints, hear me carefully as I emphasize this again. This call to put off and put on is not something we do to either earn our salvation or to earn more favor with God or be more pleasing to Him!

I want to emphasize this here clearly. For I fear in my own inadequacies as a pastor in preaching, that I often fail here and may leave the waters a bit murky.

The call to kill, to put off, and to put on given here in Colossians 3 are not checklists for us left to do so that we can ensure we are better Christians.

No, these lists are describing for us what it looks like to be filled with Christ as he is at work in us.  And they are to stir us to desire the things of Christ above rather than the things of the flesh and the world below. Not in a way of putting on and off out of obligation, but because our desires our changing towards the better things of Christ in us in response of the love we have already received in Christ!

So then, let us desire the things of Christ as listed here in these 5 characteristics of Christ and put these on then as our regular pattern of living:

1. First, let us desire and put on compassionate hearts. Compassionate hearts are to be understood as the heart that is emptied and spills out. For the idea here is literally of the intestines falling out (σπλάγχνα). And this compassionate heart is what we see in Jesus. For he had compassion upon the crowds as they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.[1]He had compassion upon the crowds that followed him and healed the sick among them. Jesus had compassion on the crowds who spent three days with him and had nothing to eat.[2]Jesus had compassion towards a widow mother whose son had died and, in his compassion, Jesus raised him from the dead.[3] This is the type of compassion that we are to put on in right response to Jesus. To show this very same compassion as he has shown to us. Compassionate hearts for the weak, the marginalized. Compassionate hearts for the sick and the afflicted. And I want to turn momentarily to the compassionate heart of Jesus for sheep without a shepherd. As a church, we want to be raising future elders and deacons in our church. We want to be a church that raises and equips men and women to serve in the office of deacon as the leading servants of the church, carrying out the various tasks that serve the body. And we want to also be training men to be future elders. To desire such an office is a noble matter. But this compassionate heart like that of Jesus is essential for any future elders. For if a man’s heart does not pour out for sheep without a shepherd, he is not called or qualified to be an elder. For the very heart and purpose of an elder is to shepherd sheep joyfully and willingly in pointing them to the great Shepherd, Jesus! May the Lord bring and raise up such men in our midst. Let us put on compassionate hearts that pour out for one another.

2. Second, let us desire and put on kindness.

Kindness here as it relates to our God is best describing the goodness of God. From the abundance of his goodness that he stores up for those who seek refuge in him as stated there in Psalm 31:19. Or the goodness of God from Psalm 119:68saying that God is good and does good. A kindness that is said to lead us to repentance there in Romans 2:4. Or most notably as found in Ephesians 2:7, God’s kindness to us in pouring out the immeasurable riches of his grace on us in Christ Jesus. It is this type of kindness then that we are called to put on. A kindness that is gracious and sensitive to others. A kindness seeking to genuinely care and serve others. ???

3. Third, let us desire and put on humility. We see the humility of Jesus most notably in the Bible in that of Philippians 2, where Paul emphasizes that the humility of Jesus was his counting others more important than himself and not looking to his own interests. This being opposed to the false humility of the false teachers who put the emphasis on their ascetic practices.

This then is an important reminder for us as we seek to put on humility. It is a false humility when we are so down and negative on ourselves. This is not true humility being put on. True humility isn’t about our extreme measures; it is about us looking to the interests of others as we count them more important than ourselves. ???

4. Fourth, let us desire and put on meekness or gentleness depending on the translation of the Bible you are using. Jesus himself is described as one who is gentle and lowly in heart. One who does not burden others. And it is this very nature of gentleness that we are to put on as Christians. This means as husbands and wives, we are to put on gentleness with one another in how we care and speak to one another. We should not be those who speak with harsh tones towards one another.

Likewise, as fathers and mothers. We are to be those who are gentle with our children, speaking gently to them and nurturing them with gentleness, not overly critical and harsh.

We are to put on gentleness in how we speak, in how we act, even with those who would be our opponents. For this the nature of Christ and blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.[4] 

5. Fifth, let us desire and put on patience.

For consider how patient the Triune God has been with us, in our wickedness and resistance towards him. In the same way, we are called to put on patience, and long suffering with others.

For patience is clarified even there with verse 13, as we read (v.13) …

These five characteristics are characteristics of Christ that we are to put on as we learn to delight more in Jesus and who we are being made in him.

III. The Love of God’s People

The characteristics of Christ that we are to put on are then rounded out with that of the call to put on love. Look there at verse 14 …

Biblical Christianity always emphasizes this one another living, this one another love. For the great commandments are this, to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

And it is this call to put on love, to be bound together in perfect harmony then, displays how the other five characteristics are then also implying these characteristics with other. We are then to have compassionate hearts as we put on love. We are to have kindness, out of love. We are to have humility in preferring others over ourselves out of love. We are to walk in meekness and gentleness with others, out of love. We are to be patient and bear with one another out of love.

God’s people are to be a people bound together as they live out the one another’s of the Bible together.

This is why as a local church; we emphasize church membership. Not because we want to have some kind of membership with dues and fees like the world, where as long as you keep paying, your membership remains.

No, our understanding of church membership is where we learn to commit to one another in this kind of close proximity. This rubbing against one another to put on this kind of love that binds us together in perfect harmony. A love that bears with one another in hardship and disagreement. A love that is willing to seek forgiveness with one another when a complaint arises rather than a backbiting and forsaking of one another. A love that stirs one another in these ways. And encourages us towards this kind of putting on of Christ and is willing even to give us a rebuke, when necessary, out of that same love for us.

Beloved then, if you are a member of this church or another church where you regularly live, is this the kind of love you are putting on for one another? A love that is deeply invested in the spiritual good of one another? A love that bears with one another and is quick to forgive as Christ has forgiven us? If not, beloved, let me encourage you towards this, because it is this kind of love that we have in Christ and that is what is to push us towards this same kind of love.

But if you do not currently belong to a church and have not yet committed to a particular people, let me encourage you that one of the ways you put on love is to learn to bear with others on the regular. Where you are in close proximity and rubbing against one another. For in so doing, you learn to be bound together in this mutual love for one another, because of the love of Christ!

Or maybe you are even struggling with another Christian, having complaint against them. Beloved, the means to resolve this is to work towards forgiving each other. Make the complaint known to the person you have it against, talk, and begin to pray for the one you have complaint against. For it is in the means of often praying for these that we have complaint against, that our hearts are softened towards them.

This is how then we begin to learn to put on love as Christians, bearing with one another in love. That’s point #3.

IV. The Response of God’s People

If we move to quickly throughVerses 15-17, we will miss what it is that holds these together. These three verses emphasis the right response of God’s people to Christ that drives this putting off and putting on. A response of thankfulness for what God has done in Christ!

Look quickly with me through these. There at the end of verse 15, we read, “And be thankful”. At the end of verse 16, it says, “with thankfulness in your hearts to God”. Then at the end of verse 17, it says, “giving thanks to God the Father through him”.

This call to thanksgiving does not come out of left field in this letter. It is the very thankfulness to God that Paul began this letter with to the Colossians. For he began telling them that he, along with Timothy always thanked God, the Father of their Lord Jesus Christ there in Colossians 1:3.

Thankfulness comes in response to what God has done. And it then is to fuel our lives as Christians as a means of worship. For worship comes from the ancient word of worthiscope, a declaring of how worthy God is. In the case here of these calls to put off and put on, a declaring of how worthy God is of a change in our living in response to what he has done for us in Christ.

A right worship of God then comes in this putting off the old and a putting on the new. Worship, that turns from a delight in the things of this present world and an exchanging it for the greater delight in the things of Christ above!

???

We are then here given 3 ways in which thanksgiving is to fuel our Christian lives in worship and the pursuit of holiness.

1. First, we are called to be thankful there in verse 15, as we are called to let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. The peace of Christ that is to rule our hearts and that we are to give thanks to God for is rooted in this language of body once more. It points back to Jesus being the head of the body and our being built up in him, filled with him. The one who is the head of all rule and authority. The one whose kingdom we have been transferred into. This is the peace we have if we are united to Christ! A peace that is to rule our hearts, instead of that of fear or uncertainty. For we are to rest in the one who is Supreme over all! And so, thanksgiving is then the natural overflow of such peace.

2. Second, we are called to teach, admonish, and sing with thankfulness in our hearts to God there in verse 16. Here Paul says that we are to let the word of Christ dwell richly in us. That is, we want to be a people who are diving into the word of God until that word of God gets in us and dwells within us. This comes through teaching and admonishing one another. For this is the means that Paul has prayed for the Colossians to be filled with the full knowledge and will of God. A desire for them to be instructed in an edifying manner, so that they may grow in the maturity of their faith. This is why our gathering together is a vital part, I would even argue, the most vital part of our Christian discipleship. For it is in the teaching and admonishing of God’s word that we are brought to the place of growing to understand the depths of who God is and what he has done in Christ for us, that stirs us to grow, both in knowledge and thankfulness. For the more we learn of these things, the more it should drive us to a deeper and more lasting thankfulness. One such means then that Paul turns here in this teaching and admonishing one another is not just the formal teaching of God’s word but even teaching through song. For in calling us to the singing of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, we are to be taught the deep truths of God’s word. The study of God’s word and the regular reading of it is an important thing. But there is something about singing that drives these words and truths into our hearts that stick with us. Therefore, Paul encourages us to sing as a means of having the word of God dwell in us. To not only sing privately, but publicly. For you see how he encourages us to sing to one another. God’s people when gathered are to sing! To sing songs of various kinds that are rich in doctrinal truth, that cover the whole counsel of God’s word, and that teach us rightly to respond to God. Singing then is working both vertically and horizontally. It is working horizontally in teaching and admonishing one another in these truths, while at the same time working vertically as we give thanks and praise to our Great God! So, saints, let us be a people who sing the word of God, loudly and thankfully! Both vertically to God in thanksgiving and praise and horizontally to encourage one another!

3. Third, we are called to give thanks to God the Father through him, in our words and deeds, doing all in the name of Christ our King there in verse 17. How we walk and talk are a means of either giving thanks to God as a form of worship or they deny God in a life of forgetfulness. For when we continue to live as those who do not put off the old and put on the new, we forget what we once were and for what purpose God has saved us, to make us new in his image through his Son filling us. We choose rather to long for the old and treasure it more. But when we see that all we do is to be done in the name of Christ and give thanks to God the Father through Christ in us, then we begin to not begrudgingly put these on as a checklist, but we joyfully begin to put off the old and on the new out of thanks to God for all that he has done for us in Christ!

V. Conclusion

???

[1]See Matthew 9:36.

[2]See Matthew 15:32.

[3]See Luke 7:13.

[4]See Matthew 5:5.