Christ's Supremacy In Christian Fellowship

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This section completes Paul’s exhortation to the Christian to live a holy life. It continues the illustration of garments: “Put off … put on” (). He exhorted his readers to put off the graveclothes of sin and the old life and to put on the “grace-clothes” of holiness and the new life in Christ.

The emphasis in this section is on motives. Why should we put off the old deeds and put on the qualities of the new life? Paul explained four motives that ought to encourage us to walk in newness of life ().

THE GRACE OF CHRIST (3:12-14)

Grace is God’s favor to undeserving sinners. Paul reminded the Colossians of what God’s grace had done for them.

God chose them (v. 12a)

The word elect means “chosen of God.” God’s words to Israel through Moses help us to understand the meaning of salvation by grace: “The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people. But because the LORD loved you … hath the LORD brought you out [of Egypt] with a mighty hand” ().

This miracle of divine election did not depend on anything that we are or that we have done, for God chose us in Christ “before the foundation of the world” (). If God saved a sinner on the basis of merit or works, nobody would be saved. It is all done through God’s grace that it might all bring glory to God.

Of course, election is a “sacred secret” that belongs to God’s children. It is not a doctrine that we believers explain to the unsaved. “The Lord knoweth them that are his” (), so we must leave the working out of His eternal purposes with Him. Our task is to share the good news of the gospel with a lost world.

God set them apart (v. 12)

That is the meaning of the word holy. Because we have trusted Christ, we have been set apart from the world unto the Lord. We are not our own; we belong completely to Him (). Just as the marriage ceremony sets apart a man and a woman for each other exclusively, so salvation sets the believer apart exclusively for Jesus Christ. Would it not be a horrible thing, at the end of a wedding, to see the groom run off with the maid of honor? It is just as horrible to contemplate the Christian living for the world and the flesh.

God loves them (v. 12)

When an unbeliever sins, he is a creature breaking the laws of the holy Creator and Judge. But when a Christian sins, he is a child of God breaking the loving heart of his Father. Love is the strongest motivating power in the world. As the believer grows in his love for God, he will grow in his desire to obey Him and walk in the newness of life that he has in Christ.

God has forgiven them (vv. 13-14)

“Having forgiven us all our trespasses” (). God’s forgiveness is complete and final; it is not conditional or partial. How is the holy God able to forgive us guilty sinners? Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. God has forgiven us “for Christ’s sake” (), and not for our own sake.

Chosen by God, set apart for God, loved by God, and forgiven by God. They all add up to GRACE! Now, because of these gracious blessings, the Christian has some solemn responsibilities before God. He must put on the beautiful graces of the Christian life. Paul named eight graces:

Grace #1

Put on … tender mercies (). The Greek uses the term bowels of compassion because the Greek people located the deeper emotions in the intestinal area, while we locate them in the heart. As believers, we need to display tender feelings of compassion toward one another (see .). This is not something that we turn on and off, like the TV set. It is a constant attitude of heart that makes us easy to live with.

Grace #2

Put on … kindness (). We have been saved because of God’s kindness toward us through Jesus Christ (; ). We, in turn, ought to show kindness toward others. “Be ye kind one to another” () is God’s command.

One of the most beautiful pictures of kindness in the Bible is King David’s treatment of the crippled prince, Mephibosheth (see ). David’s desire was to show “the kindness of God” to King Saul’s family because of his own love for Saul’s son Jonathan. The young man chosen was Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, a poor cripple. If David had acted according to justice, he would have condemned Mephibosheth, for the man belonged to a condemned family. But David acted on the basis of love and grace.

David sought Mephibosheth and assured him not to be afraid. He invited Mephibosheth to live in the palace as a member of his family, and to eat at the king’s bountiful table. This is the kindness of God! You and I have experienced an even greater kindness, for as Christians, we are God’s children and shall live with Him in heaven forever!

Grace #3

Put on … humbleness of mind (). The pagan world of Paul’s day did not admire humility. Instead, they admired pride and domination. Jesus Christ is the greatest example of humbleness of mind (.). Humility is not thinking poorly of oneself. Rather, it is having the proper estimate of oneself in the will of God (). The person with humbleness of mind thinks of others first and not of himself.

Grace #4

Put on … meekness (). Meekness is not weakness; it is power under control. This word was used to describe a soothing wind, a healing medicine, and a colt that had been broken. In each instance, there is power: A wind can become a storm; too much medicine can kill; a horse can break loose. But this power is under control. The meek person does not have to fly off the handle because he has everything under control.

Grace #5

Put on … longsuffering (). This word is literally “long-temper.” The short-tempered person speaks and acts impulsively and lacks self-control. When a person is longsuffering, he can put up with provoking people or circumstances without retaliating. It is good to be able to get angry, for this is a sign of holy character. But it is wrong to get angry quickly at the wrong things and for the wrong reasons.

Grace #6

Put on … forbearance (). This word literally means “to hold up” or “to hold back.” God is forbearing toward sinners in that He holds back His judgment (; ). Meekness, longsuffering, and forbearance go together.

Grace #7

Put on … forgiveness (). This is the logical result of all that Paul has written so far in this section. It is not enough that the Christian must endure grief and provocation, and refuse to retaliate; he must also forgive the troublemaker. If he does not, then feelings of malice will develop in the heart; and these can lead to greater sins.

It is Christlike to forgive (), and forgiveness opens the heart to the fullness of the love of God. The very instant we have a complaint against another person, we should forgive him in our hearts. (“Family forgiveness” is another matter. We should go to the offender and seek to help him in love. See .)

Grace #8

Put on … love (). This is the most important of the Christian virtues, and it acts like a “girdle” that ties all the other virtues together. All of the spiritual qualities Paul has named are aspects of true Christian love, as a reading of will reveal. Love is the first of the fruit of the Spirit and the other virtues follow–joy (), peace (), longsuffering, gentleness, kindness, and meekness ().

When love rules in our lives, it unites all these spiritual virtues so that there is beauty and harmony, indicating spiritual maturity. This harmony and maturity keep the life balanced and growing. The gnostic system could never do this.

THE PEACE OF CHRIST (3:15)

In this verse Paul turned from character to conduct. How can a Christian know when he is doing God’s will? One answer is the peace of Christ in the heart and in the church. When the believer loses his inner peace, he knows that he has in some way disobeyed God.

The word translated “rule” is an athletic term. It means “to preside at the games and distribute the prizes.” Paul used a variation of this word in his letter to the Colossians: “Let no one declare you unworthy of a prize” (literal translation, ). In the Greek games, there were judges (we would call them “umpires”) who rejected the contestants who were not qualified and who disqualified those who broke the rules.

The peace of God is the “umpire” in our believing hearts and our churches. When we obey the will of God, we have His peace within, but when we step out of His will (even unintentionally), we lose His peace.

We must beware, however, of a false peace in the heart. Jonah deliberately disobeyed God, yet he was able to go to sleep in the hold of a ship in a storm! “I had peace about it!” is not sufficient evidence that we are in the will of God. We must pray, surrender to His will, and seek His guidance in the Scriptures. The peace of heart alone is not always the peace of God.

Something else is involved: If we have peace in our hearts, we will be at peace with others in the church. We are called to one body, and our relationship in that body must be one of harmony and peace. If we are out of the will of God, we are certain to bring discord and disharmony to the church. Jonah thought he was at peace, when actually his sins created a storm!

When a Christian loses the peace of God, he begins to go off in directions that are out of the will of God. He turns to the things of the world and the flesh to compensate for his lack of peace within. He tries to escape, but he cannot escape himself! It is only when he confesses his sin, claims God’s forgiveness, and does God’s will that he experiences God’s peace within.

When there is peace in the heart, there will be praise on the lips: “And be ye thankful” (). The Christian out of God’s will is never found giving sincere praise to God. When David covered up his sins, he lost his peace and his praise (; ). When he confessed his sins, then his song returned.

THE WORD OF CHRIST (3:16)

This means, of course, the Word of God. The false teachers came to Colossae with man-made traditions, religious rules, and human philosophies. They tried to harmonize God’s Word with their teachings, but they could not succeed. God’s Word always magnifies Jesus Christ.

It was not the word of false teachers that brought salvation to the Colossians; it was the Word of the truth of the gospel (). This same Word gives us life and sustains and strengthens us ().

The Word will transform our lives if we will but permit it to “dwell” in us richly. The word dwell means “to feel at home.” If we have experienced the grace and the peace of Christ, then the Word of Christ will feel at home in our hearts. We will discover how rich the Word is with spiritual treasures that give value to our lives.

However, we must not think that Paul wrote this only to individual Christians; for he directed it to the entire church body. “Let the Word of Christ dwell among you” is a possible translation. As it dwells richly in each member of the church, it will dwell richly in the church fellowship.

There is a danger today, as there was in Paul’s day, that local churches minimize the Word of God. There seems to be a lack of simple Bible teaching in Sunday school classes and pulpits. Far more interest is shown in movies, musical performances, and various entertainments than in God’s Word. Many saved people cannot honestly say that God’s Word dwells in their hearts richly because they do not take time to read, study, and memorize it.

There is (according to Paul) a definite relationship between our knowledge of the Bible and our expression of worship in song. One way we teach and encourage ourselves and others is through the singing of the Word of God. But if we do not know the Bible and understand it, we cannot honestly sing it from our hearts.

Perhaps this “poverty of Scripture” in our churches is one cause of the abundance of unbiblical songs that we have today. A singer has no more right to sing a lie than a preacher has to preach a lie. The great songs of the faith were, for the most part, written by believers who knew the doctrines of the Word of God. Many so-called Christian songs today are written by people with little or no knowledge of the Word of God. It is a dangerous thing to separate the praise of God from the Word of God.

Psalms were, of course, the songs taken from the Old Testament. For centuries, churches in the English-speaking world sang only metrical versions of the am glad to see today a return to the singing of Scripture, especially the Psalms. Hymns were songs of praise to God written by believers but not taken from the Psalms. The church today has a rich heritage of hymnody that, I fear, is being neglected. Spiritual songs were expressions of Bible truth other than in psalms and hymns. When we sing a hymn, we address the Lord; when we sing a spiritual song, we address each other.

Paul described a local church worship service (; ). Note that the believer sings to himself as well as to the other believers and to the Lord. Our singing must be from our hearts and not just our lips. But if the Word of God is not in our hearts, we cannot sing from our hearts. This shows how important it is to know the Word of God, for it enriches our public and private worship of God.

Our singing must be with grace. This does not mean “singing in a gracious way,” but singing because we have God’s grace in our hearts. It takes grace to sing when we are in pain, or when circumstances seem to be against us. It certainly took grace for Paul and Silas to sing in that Philippian prison (). Our singing must not be a display of fleshly talent; it must be a demonstration of the grace of God in our hearts.

Someone has said that a successful Christian life involves attention to three books: God’s Book, the Bible; the pocketbook; and the hymn book. I agree. I often use a hymnal in my devotional time to help express my praise to God. As a believer grows in his knowledge of the Word, he will want to grow in his expression of praise. He will learn to appreciate the great hymns of the church, the gospel songs, and the spiritual songs that teach spiritual truths. To sing only the elementary songs of the faith is to rob himself of spiritual enrichment.

Before we leave this section, we should notice an important parallel with . In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul emphasized being filled with the Spirit; in his letter to the Colossians, he emphasized being filled with the Word. But the evidences of this spiritual fullness are the same! How can we tell if a believer is filled with the Spirit? He is joyful, thankful, and submissive (); all of this shows up in his relationships in the home and on the job (). How can we tell if a believer is filled with the Word of God? He is joyful, thankful, and submissive ().

THE NAME OF CHRIST (3:17)

In modern society, we pay little attention to names. But the ancient world held a man’s name to be of utmost importance. Often, during Old Testament days, God changed a person’s name because of some important experience or some new development.

As Christians, we bear the name of Christ. The word Christian is found only three times in the entire New Testament (; ; ). The name was given originally as a term of contempt, but gradually it became a name of honor. The name of Christ, then, means identification: We belong to Jesus Christ.

But His name also means authority. A man’s name signed to a check authorizes the withdrawal of money from the bank. The president’s name signed to a bill makes it a law. In the same way, it is in the name of Jesus Christ that we have the authority to pray (; ). Because Jesus Christ is God, and He has died for us, we have authority in His name.

All that we say and do should be associated with the name of Jesus Christ. By our words and our works, we should glorify His name. If we permit anything into our lives that cannot be associated with the name of Jesus, then we are sinning. We must do and say everything on the authority of His name and for the honor of His name.

Bearing the name of Jesus is a great privilege, but it is also a tremendous responsibility. We suffer persecution because we bear His name (). I have noticed in conversations that you can tell people you are a Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, or even an atheist, and there will be little response. But if you tell people you are a Christian and bring the name of Christ into the conversation, almost immediately there is some kind of response, and it is usually negative.

Every parent tries to teach his children to honor the family name. In just a few minutes, a person can disgrace a name that it has taken his ancestors years to build. For example, the Hebrew name Judah is a respected name; it means “praise.” The New Testament equivalent is “Judas”–and who would name his son Judas?

Note that Paul again mentioned thanksgiving in this Colossian letter. Whatever we do in the name of Christ ought to be joined with thanksgiving. If we cannot give thanks, then we had better not do it or say it! This is the fifth of six references in Colossians to thanksgiving (, ; ; , ; ). When we remember that Paul was a Roman prisoner when he wrote this letter, it makes this emphasis on thanksgiving that much more wonderful.

As we review these four spiritual motivations for godly living, we are impressed with the centrality of Jesus Christ. We forgive because Christ forgave us (). It is the peace of Christ that should rule in our hearts (). The Word of Christ should dwell in us richly (). The name of Christ should be our identification and our authority. “Christ is all, and in all” ().

Since we are united with Christ through the indwelling Holy Spirit, we have all the resources we need for holy living. But we must be spiritually motivated. Because we have experienced the grace of Christ, we want to live for Him. Because we have enjoyed the peace of Christ, we want to obey Him. We have been enriched by the Word of Christ, and ennobled by the name of Christ; therefore, we want to honor and glorify Him.

Can we desire any higher motivation?