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“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 one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”
“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him”. (Colossians 3:12-17)
Let us abandoning such things as “sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed … anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language”.
Our Identity in Christ • We are “God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved”. (Colossians 3:12) • God“chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” and “in love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ”. (Ephesians 1:4-5).
Our Identity in Christ • We “also were included in Christ when [we] heard the message of truth … [we] were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14).
Our Identity in Christ • “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:25-27).
Our Identity in Christ • We “are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that [we] may declare the praises of him who called [us] out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). • Paul’s point in our passage from Colossians is to remind us that this is who we are as the church, so let us therefore live like it.
Paul tells us that we have a responsibility to “put to death” or “take off” our old selves and “put on the new self” in Christ, whether we feel like new creations or not. In doing so, we will come to better accept our new created-ness in Christ and slowly but surely we will come know ourselves as “God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved”.
Putting on the New Self • Our community ought to evidence “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” because “Christ in us, the hope of glory”. • Our hearts ought to be open to extending forgiveness within the body of Christ; we should be a people abounding in forgiveness, forcing an abandonment of things like anger, rage, malice and slander. • Love ought to be the first thing we experience as we encounter the church; we should lead consistently with love and any other action we might take would proceed through a covering of love.
When we can become a people who have clothed ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love, we can then be those who “let the peace of Christ rule in [our hearts] … be thankful and … let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts”.
CORPORATE READING • We are God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved. God chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight and in love he predestined us for adoption as his sons and daughters through Jesus Christ. • We were included in Christ when we heard the message of truth and were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
CORPORATE READING • Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. • We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Let us show to one another: • Compassion – might we show deep concern for the condition of others. • Kindness - might our hearts – our intentions and actions – always be enveloped in the goodness of God. • Humility - might our “humility of mind” allow us to serve one another more fully and capably. • Gentleness – might we refuse to interact with one another harshly. • Patience – might we be those who are slow to seek vengeance and quick to pursue forgiveness.
