Clothed in Christ

Introduction

When my wife and I were newlyweds, I became an associate pastor at the Chippewa Evangelical Free Church in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.

One Sunday morning I got up early, got dressed, and went over to my wife, who was still asleep, to kiss her goodbye.

She looked up, kissed me, and said, “You look nice.”

With that, I went off to church.

It might help to know that my wife doesn’t see very well without her contact lenses.

When she arrived at church later that morning and saw me on the platform, she was mortified.

Nothing I wore matched.

She asked how I chose my clothes.

I said, “I look at a shirt and think, ‘That’s a nice shirt.’ Then I look at a tie and think, ‘That’s a nice tie.’ Then I look at a coat and think, ‘That’s a nice coat.’ If they happen to match, that’s a bonus.”

The next Sunday she again told me, “You look nice.”

Only later did I discover she had reorganized my closet so that the only clothes available were the ones that matched.

Ever since I started wearing a preaching robe about thirty years ago, she has not had to worry about my Sunday wardrobe.

Our clothing does more than cover us.

It communicates something about our identity, responsibilities, and intentions.

A uniform identifies a person with a particular calling.

Now that I wear a clergy collar, many people know immediately that I am a minister.

In Colossians 3, Paul uses clothing as a picture of the Christian life.

In verses 5-11, Christians are told to put off the practices of the old self.

Beginning in verse 12, we are told what to put on.

The order is crucial.

Paul does not say, “Clothe yourselves with these qualities so that God might love you.”

Rather, because God has chosen and loved us in Christ, we are to put on the character that matches our new identity.

Grace comes before obedience.

We do not obey to become God’s children.

We obey because God has already made us his children in Christ.

Now let us learn what it means to be clothed in Christ.

Scripture

Let’s read Colossians 3:12-14:

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.

Lesson

Colossians 3:12-14 teaches us that because of what God has done for us, we must clothe ourselves in Christ.

Let’s use the following outline:

Put on the Character of Christ (3:12)

Put on the Forgiveness of Christ (3:13)

Put on the Love of Christ (3:14)

I. Put on the Character of Christ (3:12)

First, because of what God has done for us, we must put on the character of Christ.

Paul writes in verse 12, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.”

There are two parts in this verse.

A. Remember the Identity God Has Given You

First, remember the identity God has given you.

Before Paul describes what Christians must do, he reminds us of who we are.

Believers are “God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved.”

These titles were applied to Israel in the Old Testament and ultimately to Christ himself in the New Testament.

Now, through our union with Christ, God applies them to believers.

First, Christians are “chosen ones.”

Our salvation begins in God’s gracious purpose, not in our wisdom or goodness.

Second, Christians are “holy.”

God has set us apart and made us belong to a new kingdom under a new Lord.

Third, Christians are “beloved.”

God's love for us is anchored not in our performance but in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

B. Display the Character Christ Is Producing in You

Because of your identity in Christ, display the character Christ is producing in you.

Paul lists five articles of spiritual clothing.

Notice that all of them concern relationships.

Christianity is not merely personal; it is profoundly relational.

1. Compassionate Hearts

Paul first said that believers must put on “compassionate hearts.”

A compassionate heart does not remain distant from another person's suffering.

It enters into another's grief, weakness, and need.

Christ did not look upon our misery from afar.

He came near, took our nature, bore our sorrows, and carried our sins.

Those who have received Christ's compassion will show compassion to others.

2. Kindness

Second, Paul mentioned “kindness”(chrestotes).

Compassion feels another person's burden.

Kindness seeks to help carry it.

Kindness is grace expressed through words, attitudes, and actions.

It may appear in a patient answer, an encouraging message, a meal provided, a need quietly met, or a lonely person welcomed.

3. Humility

Next, Paul said Christians must put on “humility” (tapeinophrosune).

Humility does not mean pretending that we have no gifts.

Humility means recognizing that every gift received from God must be used for his glory and the good of others.

The humble Christian does not need to win every conversation, receive every recognition, or defend every preference.

4. Meekness

Christians must also put on “meekness”(praotes).

“Meekness” is closely related to “humility.”

Meekness is not weakness.

Meekness is strength under control and the willingness to suffer injury rather than inflict it.

The meek person knows he is a sinner among sinners and is willing to suffer the burdens others’ sin may impose on him.

This virtue is produced by the Holy Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23) and should mark the Christian’s behavior at all times.

Christ was meek, yet he was never cowardly.

He spoke truth without sinful pride and exercised power without self-exaltation.

5. Patience

Finally, Christians must put on “patience”(makrothumia).

This is the attitude of even-temperedness.

Patience is the ability to endure others' weaknesses and failures without becoming harsh or resentful.

It is especially needed when people change slowly, disappoint us repeatedly, or fail to understand us.

God has shown immense patience toward us, and we must reflect that patience to others.

The patient Christian remembers how slowly he himself learned, repented, and matured.

By way of application, ask yourself the following questions:

•     When I encounter weakness, do I respond with compassion or irritation?

•     Are my words marked by kindness, especially in my home?

•     Do I receive correction humbly, or immediately defend myself?

•     Do I use strength to serve others, or to control them?

•     Am I patient with people who are not growing as quickly as I think they should?

Don't answer these questions merely by comparing yourself with other people.

Look at Christ.

He is both the standard of holiness and the source of grace.

Begin each day by consciously remembering your identity: “In Christ I am chosen by grace, set apart for God, and loved by the Father. Therefore by the power of the Holy Spirit, I will put on the character of my Savior, Jesus.”

II. Put on the Forgiveness of Christ (3:13)

Second, because of what God has done for us, we must put on the forgiveness of Christ.

Paul writes in verse 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.”

In addition to the five virtues that believers are to put on, believers must also exercise forbearance “with one another.”

When a legitimate grievance arises within the fellowship of believers, we must forgive “each other.”

Paul’s use of “forgiving” and “forgiven” comes from the Greek word charizomai.

This same word is translated as “canceled the debt” in Jesus’ parable of the two debtors (Luke 7:42).

It is also used elsewhere for God’s gracious giving or forgiving (see Romans 8:32; 1 Corinthians 2:12; Ephesians 4:32).

In our text, the word is in the present tense, meaning that forgiveness must be continually extended to others.

The ground for this forgiveness is that “the Lord has forgiven you.”

Christ’s mighty work of reconciliation (Colossians 1:22) is the basis on which that forgiveness of sins is provided.

At the same time, the full impact of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is set forth as the pattern of behavior for believers.

For two decades, Wayne Messmer, forty-nine, was an announcer and singer for sports teams in the Windy City.

After singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a Chicago Blackhawks game in 1994, Messmer was shot by two teenage boys.

The bullet passed through the singer’s throat, so doctors weren’t sure if Messmer would sing again.

Amazingly, six months later, Messmer returned to the microphone.

Physical healing was one thing; releasing the hatred and resentment he felt was another.

For that, Messmer had to trust Christ, his Savior, to help him reach the point where he could forgive his shooters.

When he did, he found freedom.

As he says in The Voice of Victory, “Over a period of contemplative and reflective prayer and meditation, I was confident I had set myself free from the chains that had connected me to the incident.”

Although one of the boys had been released on a plea bargain, the other, James Hampton, was still in jail.

To prove that he truly had forgiven his would-be killers, Messmer drove 225 miles to Galesburg Correctional Center and asked to see Hampton.

Several years had passed, but Messmer found the grace to say, “James, I’m here to see how you are doing.”

After a two-hour emotional visit, Messmer turned to leave.

Reaching out and touching Hampton’s forearm, he offered a benediction: “James, I bid you peace” (Pat Karlak, “Messmer Writes of Recovery, Forgiveness,” Daily Herald, Arlington Heights, Illinois (January 16, 2000).

Is there someone whose failure you continually replay in your mind?

Do you rehearse the offense because imagining their guilt makes you feel righteous?

Have you kept the wound open by retelling it unnecessarily?

If so, then take these steps:

1.   Name the offense honestly before God. Biblical forgiveness is not denial.

2.   Remember your own forgiven sin.

3.   Renounce personal vengeance. Entrust justice to the righteous judge.

4.   Pray for grace to desire the offender's true good.

5.   Pursue reconciliation where it is wise and possible.

6.   Continue forgiving even when painful memories return.

If the offense involved abuse, danger, criminal conduct, or an ongoing pattern of serious harm, forgiveness does not require placing yourself or others in danger.

Seeking protection, wise pastoral help, or proper legal intervention is not contrary to a forgiving heart.

The question is not whether forgiveness is easy.

It is whether Christ's grace is greater than our bitterness.

The Lord, who commands forgiveness, also supplies grace to go to those who confess that they cannot forgive in their own strength.

III. Put on the Love of Christ (3:14)

And third, because of what God has done for us, we must put on the love of Christ.

Paul writes in verse 14, “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

Paul adds one more virtue to the ones he has mentioned in verse 12.

It is “love” (agape).

Love is the supreme grace that binds believers together “in perfect harmony.”

Love is more than a feeling; it is an act of the will.

It is a conscious commitment to serve and do good for others.

The love described here comes from our union with Christ.

Christ loved his people when we were unworthy.

He did not merely speak of love.

He gave himself for us.

And because of what Jesus has done for us, we love because we have first been loved.

Victoria Ruvolo, forty-five, of Lake Ronkonkoma, New York, was driving to her niece’s voice recital when she passed a car driven by Ryan Cushing, nineteen.

Cushing was with five other teens and had just used a stolen credit card for a spending spree.

One of their purchases was a frozen turkey, which Cushing tossed into oncoming traffic.

The twenty-pound bird smashed through Ruvolo’s windshield, crushing her face.

Ruvolo survived, though it took ten hours of surgery to repair her face and months of painful rehabilitation.

On October 17, 2005, Ruvolo attended Cushing’s sentencing and asked his judge for leniency.

Part of her statement read,

“Despite all the fear and the pain, I have learned from this horrific experience that I have much to be thankful for. Each day when I wake up, I thank God simply because I’m alive. I sincerely hope you have also learned from this awful experience, Ryan. There is no room for vengeance in my life, and I do not believe a long, hard prison term would do you, me, or society any good.”

Cushing, who wept and expressed remorse for his action, was sentenced to six months in jail.

He could have received a twenty-five-year prison sentence if Ruvolo had not intervened.

She did so because she expressed love for the young man rather than vengeance (Craig Brian Larson and Phyllis Ten Elshof, 1001 Illustrations That Connect [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2008], 88–89).

Love must become visible in daily life.

In the home, love listens rather than waiting to speak.

Love apologizes without excuses.

Love serves when no one applauds.

In the church, love welcomes the unnoticed person, bears another member's burden, refuses gossip, protects unity, and speaks with gentleness.

At work, love refuses to use people as tools for advancement.

Love acts honestly, treats others with dignity, and serves faithfully.

In conflict, love asks not only, "How have I been wronged?" but also "How can I honor Christ and seek my neighbor's good?"

Choose one specific person this week toward whom you will deliberately practice Christ-like love.

Pray for that person.

Listen to that person.

Serve that person.

Encourage that person with something true and specific.

Do not wait until you feel loving.

Christian love begins with obedient action, trusting God to reshape our affections as we walk by faith.

Conclusion

As we close, remember that Paul does not first tell us what to do, but who we are: God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved.

Our obedience does not purchase his favor; it flows from favor already given in Christ.

Therefore, put on the clothing that suits your new identity.

Let compassion replace coldness, kindness replace harshness, humility replace pride, meekness replace self-assertion, and patience replace irritation.

Bear with one another.

Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you.

Above all, put on love, the grace that binds every Christian virtue into beautiful harmony.

We will fail, but we need not despair.

The Christ who commands these things has secured our pardon, and the Spirit who dwells within us supplies strength for our sanctification.

So look to Christ, rest in his finished work, repent of your sins, and rise each day to wear his likeness before family, church, and world, glorifying God. Amen.