The Believer's Uniform

Scripture: Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon Title: The Believer’s Uniform

Brothers and sisters in Christ, I may have mentioned this before, but it’s fitting for today. Something I’ve wrestled with throughout my life—and I think it can be true for many people who like to read and study and think about Scripture and theology—we may wrestle with keeping doctrine connected to application. When I was looking at seminaries and talking with faculty, I think at Calvin, I mentioned how I got bored with theology in college, and that’s why I changed my major to criminal justice because it was interesting and active.

At that point, I felt like when it came to faith and the Bible, I could answer most questions, especially on Reformed things. Because I was brought up in the church and taught well there and at home and at school, a lot had gotten stored up in my head. I say that not to brag but that’s how I thought about it—I was tired of just taking that stuff in. This professor I was talking to lamented what I was saying and kind of chastised me, because he saw theology as being applicable or practical. It should affect how we live, what we do; it shouldn’t just be head stuff.

I bring that up this morning, because it’s tempting for me to say, “If you’ve been here or watched or listened to the reading and sermons on chapters 1 and 2, and you’re tired of doctrinal or intellectual or head stuff that Paul has been dealing with, never fear! Chapters 3 and 4 have the application. Paul’s going to tell you what to do, and how to get or keep your life on track.” If we outline the book of Colossians, there is that shift, that difference. Yet we have to be careful to not completely divide these things, to say one part is for some and the other is completely for others.

No, what comes in chapters 3 and 4, moving into a clearer practical section, builds on the first two chapters. What we’ve heard and learned and believe about Christ is the reason why we do what we do. A person can implement all the moral actions they want into their lives without Christ, but why Paul teaches this, why God calls us to put on and keep on this new uniform, it flows out of what’s gone before. This only reaches its desired effect, if the believer understands the gospel, their inheritance, the training they must continue to do, and their struggle.

That being said, we’re going to take up the commands of this passage for believers in three points. The first is what we find in verses 1 and 2, “…Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” As you’ve heard me saying through this series, this command is for believers, for those “who have been raised with Christ,” who have “died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” There’s no distinction among believers, though. This is just as much for the new or young Christians as it is for the older, more mature Christian. Wherever we feel we’re at, our minds are to be set on things above and not on earthly things.

What does that mean, though? Is this talking about the affairs of the world? Are we being told, “Don’t think about what’s going on down here. Don’t involve yourselves in the world or its problems. Ignore disasters and joys, forget about politics and finances. Just think about heaven”? That doesn’t fit with the rest of Scripture, which calls us to love our neighbors, to care and steward the creation, to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice, to pray for those who are sick, to honor the king, to work and be generous with what we have. Thinking about heaven all day every day, to the point that we ignore anything else is not Paul’s message.

What’s he saying, then? This is theologian N.T. Wright’s comment on these verses: “The place where thoughts are to rest, is ‘the things that are above’...[which] are well set out in Philippians 4:8, and also in [Colossians 3:12 and following]: the qualities of self-giving love arethe chief characteristics of the life of heaven, because heaven is where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God…This phrase…focuses attention on the sovereign rule which Christ now exercises. [It] is a command to meditate and dwell upon Christ’s sort of life, and on the fact that he is now enthroned as the Lord of the world. The Bible does not say very much about heaven. But its central figure is clear: it is the place where the crucified Christ already reigns, where his people already have full rights of citizenship. To concentrate the mind on the character of Jesus Christ, on that unique blend of love and strength revealed in the Gospels, is to begin on earth to reflect the very life of heaven.”

Rather than saying, “Forget about the affairs of this world, just think about heaven,” what Wright and other commentators I looked at draw attention to is what we read last week. A person cannot pursue Christ by earthly means. You don’t have him simply by focusing only on what you shall and shall not do on this earth. A life of good behavior does not earn or win grace for anyone.

In order to receive grace, redemption, salvation, we have to be looking to the Savior. Our hearts and minds must be fixed on what we heard in that middle section of Colossians 1—all that Jesus has done and how he is Savior and Lord over all. It’s what we find in Philippians 2 verses 5 through 11, where Paul describes the journey of Christ—he, fully God and fully man, emptied himself, took human form, being obedient unto death, but with his resurrection and ascension, “God exalted him” to heaven, “to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

If you have set your mind on things above or are wondering what that involves, it’s setting your mind on Christ, which can only be done by faith. When we’re fixed on him—thinking of what he has done, of who he is, of what he’s worth and deserves, of what he’s able to do, we will be transformed by the Holy Spirit. We will be made new, because you have died and been risen in Christ—that’s our identity. Because that’s happened, the One who is in heaven, reorients who you are and what you should desire. N.T. Wrightreferred to Philippians 4:8, which is where we find, “[Think about] whatever is true…noble…right...pure…lovely…admirable…excellent or praiseworthy.” Anyone can change behavior, but being able to recognize and pursue those things which God wants is connected to who Christ is, submitting to his reign, worshiping and praising his glory. We must not drift into ignorance towards the work and the exaltation of Jesus Christ and what that means for us. So, set your minds on things above, not merely on things you can change.

Our next point, the next command, builds on this. We don’t get to choose the order of what comes first; it’s given to us. Paul writes in verses 5, 8, and 9, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry…You must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other...”

If you are focused on Christ, who died for you and for your sins, to bear the punishment of them, to redeem you from eternal death, to save your soul, why would you keep on living in sin? Why would I keep on living in sin? It’s because that’s our nature when we come into this life; it’s what we know even before we know it. Because sin seems alluring, because the devil tells us it will satisfy, it will provide us with something we can’t have otherwise. Because we so often accept the same lie that the serpent told Eve in the Garden, “You will not surely die.”

Yet God’s word, the real truth, tells us, “Put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature.” The Greek verb is neckro. Here are its definitions from a variety of dictionaries: it means, “to kill,” “to stop completely,” and “to cease completely from activity, with the implication of extreme measures taken to guarantee such a cessation.” We are not to torture the dismissal of our sin. We’re not to flounder debating how to get out of it while continuing to do what we’ve been doing. Whatever is causing or encouraging us to sin, quit it! Invite help. Invite accountability.

If we are focused on Christ, then it’s time to get rid of the sin that is in our lives, especially the ones listed in our passage. Take note of what Paul lists—these are things evidently that the Colossians struggled with and they are just as common of sins today. All of these are things that it can be said, “Everyone does them.” Yet as all of our parents probably taught us, “Just because everyone else does something, doesn’t mean you have to or should.” We need to be careful. We need to put to death sexual sins, sins around greed and money, sins that exist in the midst of our relationships as people show pride, arrogance, or go overboard in proving that they are right. Why shouldn’t we lie? Because Jesus himself spoke of the devil as having “no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

We could spend hours going through what things fit into each of these categories, each of these sin labels. If you want to know more about sexual immorality and impurity, join us for the Afternoon Bible Study when we start back up next week. There’s plenty to unpack on a variety of levels. It’s an oversimplification to say that when you see it, you know it’s sin, but we can know what sin is by reading our Bibles. God has told us his ways—in detail like in the Ten Commandments and in these lists scattered across the New Testament—as well as in summary by calling us to love. We find out what God wants out of us by looking where he has spoken to us.

Before we move on, I want to point out two significant sentences in addition to these commands. Verses 6 and 7, “Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.” Brothers and sisters, we are not perfect, and we have not been. We’re going to look in a moment at what we are called to put into practice in terms of what is good and godly versus what we’re to be putting to death. But in our interactions with others, with those who are struggling in the faith or who we’re hoping to see God bring to himself, when we see others in the mud of their sin, we should not think that we weren’t ever in the same position. We shouldn’t forget and think real Christians don’t struggle or aren’t burdened like so-and-so is struggling. That’s not to say that every one of us has the same exact battles of sin and temptations; no, but we must remember we had and have sins that we still need to put to Christ’s help to kill.

That said, we go back to what I said in our first point and at the beginning of this point. Setting our eyes on things above is first, putting earthly things to death is second. Why can’t or why shouldn’t a person think they can just fix their eyes on things above and ignore everything else, ignore the presence of sin and evil in their lives? The answer is what we heard in verse 6, “Because of [the sins of our earthly nature], the wrath of God is coming.” Again, if we’re grateful and trusting that we do and will continue to experience the riches of Christ’s love, we shouldn’t continue to do and see nothing wrong with the things that are bringing about his wrath. I’m preaching to myself—I have my own sins that are part of this, that I need to rid myself of; I’m not claiming that I’ve got this perfect. But believers cannot in good faith or good conscience ignore God and what he has told us is his will and what are his ways. He has revealed that for our good.

That brings us to our final point, the final list of commands, which I’m summing up with the title: put on the believer’s uniform. Much of this focuses on what I said earlier to the boys and girls. Verses 12 through 14, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” You’re focused on Christ. Because of that and trusting the help of the Holy Spirit, you’re putting things to death. What’s taking their place, though? What’s rising from the dirt or the ashes? What’s springing to new life? Love in all these forms.

It’s easy to say that these things should just be natural. Yet because of the presence of sin still trying to strangle us and hold a place in our lives, we have to be intentional about living these things out. What’s named in these verses is not a uniform in the sense that you go around and tell people look at me compassion, my kindness, my humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love like I could my shirt and suit and tie. “Look, I have all these.” No, this is a uniform that we are to live into, to be intentional about putting into practice. The uniform only makes sense on us, when we’re fulfilling the calling that comes up with it

So, brothers and sisters, get dressed with compassion. As I’ve seen many of you do and encourage you to continue, be present with others, be near to them when they suffer in hard times. Clothe yourselves with kindness. When someone is in need, be willing to help them out. We aren’t to care just about ourselves and people who fit into our likeness, our camp, our way of thinking, but we’re to be kind to all. Put on humility. Don’t brag about yourself, don’t always count yourself better than other people; encourage and urge others to growth, praise them when they do well, when you see someone growing, even if they haven’t reached where you hope and want them to be, lift them up. Get dressed with gentleness; we’ll hear more about that in certain relationships next week. Put on is patience—take your time, do not rush. When interacting with others, listen and wait, serve them with calmness. Even when we really want to sprint ahead, we know what we’re capable of, journey beside someone at the pace they need. All of these virtues are principles from above—this is the uniform that believers should put on to imitate and glorify Christ.

The Christian life can be filled with these fruits, only when we know our identity is in Christ. To be “God’s chosen people,” chosen by him!” To be his “holy and dearly loved,” is also to have his peace ruling in our hearts, thankfulness in our lives because of him, his word dwelling in us as we share it. All this because of the preparation and continuing work that God is up to. It all requires love. As we address sin in our own lives and help others, may genuine love rooted in Christ always be our aim. May that love guide us, not only to get rid of sin, but to follow-through in putting on and living into the uniform Christ has given us, all while fixing our eyes on him. Amen.