Colossians 3.12b-Paul Issues Command That Defines the Command to Clothe Oneself with the New Man
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday August 28, 2016
Colossians: Colossians 3:12b- Paul Issues Command That Defines the Command to Clothe Oneself with the New Man
Lesson # 83
Colossians 3:12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (NASB95)
“Put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” is composed of the following: (1) verb enduō (ἐνδύω), “put on” (2) noun splagchnon (σπλάγχνον), “a heart” (3) noun oiktirmos (οἰκτιρμός), “of compassion” (4) noun chrēstotēs (χρηστότης), “kindness” (5) noun tapeinophrosunē (ταπεινοφροσύνη), “humility” (6) noun prautēs (πραΰτης), “gentleness” (7) noun makrothumia (μακροθυμία), “patience.”
As was the case in Colossians 3:10, the verb enduō in Colossians 3:12 is used in a figurative of sense and means “clothe oneself, to put on oneself, to dress oneself with” since it pertains to putting on clothes without implying any particle article of clothing.
To clothe oneself with a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience would be equivalent to clothing oneself with the new man since these virtues reflect the character and nature of the new man, i.e. the new Christ nature.
The second person masculine plural form of this verb is a reference of course to the Colossians as a corporate unit with a distributive sense emphasizing no exceptions.
This verb enduō is in the middle voice and functions specifically as a direct middle meaning that the subject acts “on” himself or herself.
Therefore, the middle voice indicates that Paul is commanding the Colossians to “clothe themselves” with a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
The aorist imperative form of the verb enduō is a constative aorist imperative which emphasizes solemnity or urgency of the action.
Therefore, the aorist imperative form of this verb is expressing the solemn nature of this command and emphasizing the urgency of the Colossians obeying this command.
It is emphasizing how extremely important it is for them to clothe themselves with a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
The noun splagchnon is in the plural and means “deep or deep seated affections” referring to the affection for members of the body of Christ.
The noun oiktirmos means “compassion” since the word pertains to the intense desire to act to alleviate the pain and suffering of another or remove its cause (1 John 3:16-17).
The word is in the genitive case and functions as a genitive of product meaning that the word is the product of the noun to which it stands related which is the noun splagchnon which means “deep seated affections.”
This would indicate that compassion is the product of the Colossians clothing themselves with deep seated affections for one another.
The noun chrēstotēs refers to the characteristic of kindness produced by the Holy Spirit in the believer who is obedient to the Lord’s command to love their fellow man and Christian as He has loved and does love all men.
The noun tapeinophrosunē means “humility” since the word pertains to the believer viewing themselves from God’s perspective meaning they are sinners saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
It expresses itself in obedience to the Father’s will, which manifests itself in loving and serving others and also expresses itself in putting others ahead of yourself.
This word pertains to subordinating ones’ self-interest to the best interests of others and is expressed by the believer who regards their fellow believer more highly than themselves and subordinates their interests to the best interests of their fellow believer (Philippians 2:3-4).
The noun prautēs means “gentleness” since the word pertains to acting in a manner that is free from harshness, sternness or violence and is mild and even tempered.
The noun makrothumia refers to the godly “patience” produced in the Colossians by the Holy Spirit when they exercise faith in His teaching in the gospel in the sense that they endure undeserved suffering and adversity.
It describes them being in a state of emotional calm in the face of provocation or adversity or underserved suffering without complaint or irritation.
It speaks of remaining in a state of being tranquil despite undeserved suffering and adversity or persecution.
Colossians 3:12 Therefore, because each and every one of you are elected by God the Father, holy as well as divinely loved, I solemnly charge the clothing of yourselves with compassion which is the product of deep seated affections, kindness, humility gentleness, patience. (Author’s translation)
The command the apostle Paul issues the faithful Christians in Colossae is an inference from his teaching in Colossians 3:9-11 that each and every one of the Colossian believers stripped off the old man with its practices (verse 9) and have clothed themselves with the new man (verse 10).
This stripping off the old man took place at the moment of justification and speaks of the Colossians leaving the state or condition of being enslaved to the old indwelling Adamic sin nature at the moment they were declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
Simultaneously, they were identified with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, and burial through the baptism of the Spirit.
Consequently, this identification freed them from the power of the sin nature.
So this removal of the sin nature took place at their conversion experience.
This new man belongs to the new creation and is the nature of Jesus Christ who reflects the Father’s nature.
The new man speaks of the sinner who has been declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son and has consequently been regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
This justified sinner was not only regenerated at the moment of their justification but they were also identified with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father through the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
They were also simultaneously indwelt permanently by all three members of the Trinity.
Therefore, the new man belongs to the new creation under the headship of Jesus Christ.
This clothing of themselves with the new man also took place at the moment of the Colossians were declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
Therefore, here in Colossians 3:12, the apostle Paul is instructing the Colossians to obey this command to put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience based upon the fact that they have stripped off the old man and clothed themselves with the new man.
Each of these virtues are godly because they are produced by the Holy Spirit in the believer who strips off the old man, i.e. the old Adamic nature and clothes themselves with the new man, i.e. the new Christ nature.
Therefore, it is produced by the Spirit in the believer when they appropriate by their identification with Christ in His death and resurrection.
This is indicated by the fact that stripping off the old man refers to appropriating by faith one’s identification with Christ in His death whereas clothing oneself with the new man is appropriating by faith one’s identification with Christ in His resurrection.
Paul affirms the Colossians’ faithfulness to the gospel in Colossians 1:3-5 and 2:5.
In the former, the apostle informed these faithful Christians in Colossae that he gave thanks to the Father in prayer for them after hearing about their faith in Jesus Christ and that they were practicing the love of God with one another.
To clothe oneself with a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience would be equivalent to clothing themselves with the new man since these virtues reflect the character and nature of the new man, i.e. the new Christ nature.
The urgency of the command reflects Paul’s Spirit inspired desire that the Colossians continue to appropriate by faith their identification with Christ in His death and resurrection.
By doing so they will be stripping of the old nature and clothing themselves with the nature of Christ.
They will then continue to experience victory over sin and Satan.
Furthermore, they will continue to experience their sanctification, salvation and fellowship with God and consequently, they will grow to spiritual maturity.
Interestingly, the verb enduō (ἐνδύω), which appears here in Colossians 3:10 and 12, also appears in the same fashion in Romans 13:14.
In the latter, Paul commands the Roman believers to clothe themselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.
This refers to appropriating by faith the teaching of the Spirit in the Word of God that the Christian is union with Christ and identified with Him in His crucifixion, His spiritual and physical deaths, His resurrection and session.
This use of the verb in Romans 13:14 suggests or implies that the command in Colossians 3:10 for the Colossians to clothe themselves with the new man is figurative language for clothing oneself with the nature or character of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It also suggests or implies that the command in Colossians 3:12 for the Colossians to clothe themselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience is tantamount to clothing oneself with the character and nature of Christ.
Thus, these virtues in Colossians 3:12 are attributes which Jesus Christ manifested during His First Advent.
