Put on Christ

Rick Terletzky
1 day ago
2 min 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.

After talking about sin, Paul is quick to remind us of who we are. We are treasured and set apart by God. Knowing that our love for God comes from his preeminent love for us (1 John 4:19) means that God’s forgiveness and grace for us, when we fall short, are intact. We are chosen by Him, which means he gives us the ability to love. This testifies to our capability to respond by putting on the things of God. For those who put their faith in Jesus Christ, we are assured by His grace and character; therefore, we should wear them.

We love because he first loved us.

1 John 4:19

Paul is making lists. What is different about this list, compared to the previous? Well, it’s not the difference between the nice list and the naughty list.

Each practice is not only a characteristic of God, but the very actions that Jesus directly exhibited Himself. It’s made clear, as our call to forgive is placed in the mirror of Jesus‘s own forgiveness for us. These things are not merely a suggestion of practices that we should occasionally do. They should emanate from our heart, which is why Paul begins with it. From the heart, the character of God should flow.

This is why the battle is not to perform these works well to fulfill a quota, but the surrender of our hearts to Christ’s rule. The more we delight in sanctification, the journey of Jesus maturing us through humility, the more we will see the fruit of his work displayed in the way we live for the sake of others. The peace we seek is not just for ourselves but rather reigns in our lives to compassionately steer God’s chosen into His fold.

All of God’s character works to bring home His children; to unite all His beloved as the Body of Christ. When we have the love of Christ ruling over our love for Christ, these practices will become responses to our thankfulness, rather than means of earning merit.

We will delight not only in His character, but why God’s character is expressed. We need not look further than God‘s character expressed towards us to understand.

When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Titus 3:4-7