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In Chapter 2, Paul expounded upon the freedoms that we have in Christ, here in Chapter 3, he expounds upon our goals, responsibilities, and rewards. He says:
Paul is addressing a "way of life". The pagans of his day had very little personal morality. A worshipper could bow before an idol, put his offering upon the alter and go back and live the same old sinful life. Paul believed that that kind of behavior was not a part of Christianity. When we accepted Christ, "we died with Christ". We, the old person, the lost person, the sinful person, the pagan person, we died to those things when we accepted Christ as our Savior. How is this possible? When Christ died for our sin, He died breaking the power of sin.
Therefore, we are now "alive" in Christ. "Eternal life is not pie in the shy, it's here and now." So, what turns you on? For Paul it was Christ, "For me to live is Christ." His life and every thing that he did was centered around Christ. Therefore, verse 1 says, "Since you have been raised with Christ, you no longer belong to the world." It is a very special person that can fulfill his spiritual responsibilities and still fulfill his earthly responsibilities. We are "called out of the world", but we must still live in the world.
Lets not forget the "glorious" position that we have with Christ. One day we shall all enter into eternal glory with Christ. There is no way we can understand the fullness of that glory. Paul says in Romans 8:30, "This glory simply has not yet been revealed." "Therefore, we should seek those things which are above."
How do we do this? Verse 2 says, "Set your minds." Think about Heavenly things. Dwight L. Moody said that Paul was not suggesting that we become so "heavenly minded" that we were no "earthly good". Paul is simply saying that our lives should be under the direction of Christ, and our hearts and goals set on Heaven.
The best example of success and failure in this regard is found in the wonderings of Israel. When Israel came to the border of the Promise Land, they refused to go in on the advise of the majority of the spies that Moses had sent in to spy out the land. Only two men wanted to go in, Caleb and Joshua. They were the only two men, 20 years and older, that was allowed to go into the Promise Land. Why? Because their minds and hearts were set on Canaan (Heaven) and their faith was in God.
The others did not have faith enough to believe that God would deliver the
Canaanites into their hands, so all of them wondered for 40 years in the
wilderness. Makes you wonder about how much we miss by not having enough faith.
God gives us enough faith to receive salvation, but spiritual growth is up to us.
Paul is suggesting that the best way to accomplish this is to keep our hearts and
goals on Heaven.
Putting Off the Old Man
["Click here for Colossians 3:5-11"]
We saw from the last verses that one of the practices of the believer is to seek after Heavenly things. In these verses we see another practice for the believer, and that is "putting off the old man". "Put to death, therefore, all that is earthly in you." Paul mentions two types of sin that should be removed from our lives, sensual sins and social sins.
Sensual sins are sins that deal with sexual immorality in all of its devious areas. Sexual desires lead to actions. If we are going to purify our actions we must first purify our minds. Our prayer should be, (Psalm 51) "Create in me a clean heart, O Lord."
Social sins are sins that we have come to accept because "everybody does them". Campbell Morgan calls them "The sins that are in good standing". They include, but are not limited to, anger, bad habits, lying, stealing, bad humor, and others, all have become a way of life. We might be very unhappy if we caught a church member committing a social sin, but we accept his loss of temper as righteous indignation. Between these two types of sin is one that Paul pays special attention to. It is "covetousness". Webster defines it as a craving for possessions. The sin of always wanting more. The covetous person is never satisfied. The question is, why did Paul put so much importance on this? God made it the last of the 10 Commandments.
This sin can make us break the other nine. A covetous person will dishonor God. They will take His name in vain. They will lye, steal, commit adultery and do what ever is needed to satisfy their own desires. That's why it is so devastating and needs special attention.
If these are the sins that were so much a part of us before, how can we put off this "old man"? Paul suggests that it is like changing your cloths. Christ set the example by "putting off His grave cloths" when he arose from the dead. Remember, they found them in the grave. This indicated "newness" of life. We must do the same by putting off our old nature, the old man.
We need to stress the danger of social sins like anger, wrath and malice. These indicate a bad attitude toward others. They lead to the passing of judgments, sometimes unwarranted. Blasphemy is speech that slanders others. Sometimes it masquerades as "spiritual concern".
Then there is "filthy language", jokes, obscene expressions, so called manly or contemporary talk, to be taken, as some say, without concern because they "don't mean anything about it". Paul says in Col. 4:6, "Let your speech be seasoned with salt." Salt is the symbol of purity and grace.
Finally, Paul condemns lying. Why was Ananias and Sapphira killed in the Book of Acts? They lied about a piece of property that they sold. The story is told about Bishop Warren Candler, who one Sunday asked his congregation, "If God still struck people dead for lying, where would I be?" The congregation snickered a bit but smiles disappeared when he said, "I'd be right here, preaching to an empty church.
So lets put off the "old man" and put on that renewed person that becomes a Christian, by the Grace of God. This is not a one-time deal. We must constantly remind ourselves that our lives need renewing and we need to put off those un-Christ like things that have a way of creeping into our lives.
And it would help if we would stop blaming other people. "If it wasn't for
so-and-so, I could be a better person." There is no merit in loving people who
agree with you, we must love those who do not for Paul says that we are all the
same in Christ. Greek, Jew, circumcised, uncircumcised, Baptist, Presbyterian,
for in Christ, we are all the same. That's putting off the old man.
Putting on the New Man
["Click here for Colossians 3:12-17"]
The preceding verses told us what we should not do and what baggage we should get rid of, now these verses tell us what we should do as believers and as "new men".
Paul says that we should "put on" compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness and patience. That's quite an assignment. Wiersbe calls this passage, "All dressed up and someplace to go." These verses completes Paul's efforts to get the Colossians to live a holy life.
He says we "put off the old", and "put on the new", and he suggests 4 reasons why they should do this.
A lot of rich Christian doctrine is in these reasons. First, because God chose them and us. Verse 12 says that we are God's elect, and elect means "chosen" of God. Through Moses, God told the Israelites that He had chosen them not because they were worthy but because He loved them. The miracle of "divine election" does not depend on anything that we are, or anything that we have done. It is all of God's love and Grace. If God saved us on the basis of merit, no one would be saved. "Election" is un-explainable, it does not make sense to most people therefore we do not attempt to explain it, we simply share the "good news" and leave the working out of God's plan, to Him.
Next, we should "put on the new man" because God set them and us apart. We are "Holy", set apart for Christ, because we believe and trust Him. If then, we have been set apart, there must be a purpose for this. The purpose is for us to glorify God. And how can we do this without putting off the old man and putting on the new.
The third reason that we should put on the "new man" is because God loved them and us. When we were yet sinners, God loved us but was our Judge. To allow us to escape that judgment, God sent his only begotten Son that who ever believed on Him, would have an escape from that judgment. All this He did because He loved us not because we deserved it. Love is the world's greatest motivator. As we grow in love we grow in our obedience to God.
The fourth reason for putting on the "new man" is because the Lord has forgiven them and us. God's forgiveness is complete and eternal. It is also unconditional. How can a Holy God forgive us guilty sinners? It is because of the sacrifice of Christ. God forgives us for Christ's sake, not for our sake.
Chosen, set apart, loved and forgiven, they all add up to "unmerited favor", which is Grace. Now, because of all this, we have responsibilities. Paul says that we must demonstrate kindness, humility, meekness and patience. These are characteristics that we cannot turn on and off at will. It must be a constant attitude of heart. It does two things, it makes us easier to live with and it strengthens our witness. Lowliness and humility was not admired in Paul's day nor is it today. Pride and domination are the keys to success.
Remember that humility is not "thinking poorly" of yourself. Rather it's the proper attitude and understanding of your worth before God. Meekness is not weakness, its power under control. The same Greek word is used to describe a soothing wind, a healing medicine and a broken colt. In each instance, there is power under control.
Patience or long suffering means to put up with provoking people without retaliating. We expect God to do this for us, should He not also expect us to do the same? So out of kindness, meekness, loveliness and patience, will come forbearance, forgiveness and love. Forbearance means "to hold back". Hold back our anger and our judgment. Forgiveness is necessary if we ever are to accomplish the last one, love. Love is the most important of all Christian virtues. Love is the "first fruit" of the Spirit. Love does not divide, it unites. It demands spiritual maturity and a life of harmony with one another. The Gnostic system in Colossae could never do that.
Verse 17 says, "What ever you do, do it in the name of Jesus." We do not pay much attention to names today, we are all numbers, but in Paul's day, names were of the utmost importance. In the Old Testament, God changed peoples names when they became a part of His plan. Abram became Abraham and Simon became Peter. We bear the name of Christian. It is found only three times in the New Testament. It was originally used as a name of contempt. Gradually, because of persecution, it became a name of honor.
Because Jesus is God, because He died for us, we have authority in His name. Weather we like it or not, all that we do or say reflects upon His name. Bearing the name of Jesus is a great privilege as well as a great responsibility. Proclaiming that name above the name of a denomination, almost without exception, will bring some response.
Then Paul hits home. We should always give thanks. Thanksgiving ought to be year
round for the Christian. Whatever we do for Christ, we should do thankfully.
Wiersbe says that if we cannot give thanks, then we had better not do it. This is
the sixth reference to thanksgiving in the book of Colossians. Considering that
Paul was in prison when he wrote this, it makes the emphasis more wonderful.
So, lets put on the "new man" and give thanksgiving for the privilege.
Family Life
["Click here for Colossians 3:18-21"]
Here we start a section of Paul's commands on our personal life, our family life, our work life and our public life. Lets look at what he has to tell us about our family life.
We see here that God not only changes individuals but He also changes families, the husband, the wife and the children. After reading the text we are suddenly faced with the thought, "This is old fashion stuff, isn't it?" We begin with a very controversial statement, "Wives, be SUBJECT (R.S.V.)to your husbands." The K.J. says, "Wives, SUBMIT to your own husbands." The Greek word used here and translated subject or submit, is the same word that Paul uses in Rom. 13:1, "Let every person be SUBJECT to the governing authorities." The Williams translation says, "You married women must continue to live in SUBORDINATION to your husbands." The Living Bible says, "You wives SUBMIT yourselves to your husbands." Two hundred years ago, Matthew Henry wrote, "Submission is the duty of wives." "It is agreeable to the order of nature, as well as the will of God."
The Greek word is "hupotasso" comes from the Greek military vocabulary. It means to "arrange by rank". A Private is "subject" to a Corporal, a Corporal to a Sergeant etc, it does not necessarily mean that one is any better than the other, it simply establishes order. In the beginning, God established order out of chaos. Elsewhere Paul wrote more about the subject, In Eph. 5 he wrote, "The man and the woman must be subject to the Lords and to each other." In Galatians he wrote, "There is neither male nor female in the eyes of the Lord", but for the sake of order in this world, there must be a "chain" of command.
Now, the above must be taken with the next verse, "Husbands, love (agape)your wives and do not be HARSH with them." The K.J. says, "Husbands, love your wives and do not be BITTER against them." The living Bible uses both bitter and harsh, but the better translation, using the Greek Bible, seems to be "harsh". Notice the command is to "love" the word "agape" is used which refers to a "God like" love. When the command is looked at in this manner, it is far more demanding that that given to the woman. He also commands that the husband be not harsh in his dealings with his wife. They are to be kind and obliging. It means fulfilling their needs with love and kindness as God fulfills our needs. That is a "sacrificing" love.
Paul is talking about a very special love in these verses that should exist between the husband and wife. He describes much better in First Corinthians 13. "Love is patient, kind, does not boast, is not proud, is not rude, is not selfish, is not easily angered and forgives and forgets. Surly this is a "God like " love.
Then he turns his attention to the children. "Children. obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord." The Williams translation says, "Children, practice obedience." All the others use "obey". Matthew Henry says, "Children should obey the 'lawful' commands of their parents as they have a natural right and should be better fitted to direct them."
What about children's rights? Wiersbe lists a few that he believes that they have. They have the right to be born. They have the right to be raised in a Christian home. They have the right to "Godly" parents. They have the right to parental love. The story is told of William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army. He was asked to conduct the funeral of John Starkey, a violent British criminal. Booth faced a mean and ugly crowd like he had never faced in his life before. His first words stopped them cold, he said, "John Starkey never had a praying mother." Those words speak volumes about a persons chances in this life.
Children have responsibilities as well as rights. They are to obey in all things, not just those things that please them. Certainly tied in with this is the next verse, "Fathers, do not provoke your children lest they become discouraged." The author of Hebrews says the same thing in chapter 11, verse 23, "Parents, provoke not your children."
There is often friction between the parents and the children because we have not
taken time to get to know them. A recent survey indicated that fathers spend, on
the average, only 37 seconds a day with their children. The most precious gift
that we can give to our children is our time.
Work Life
["Click here for Colossians 3:22-25"]
These verses have to do with our work ethic. Here Paul speaks first to slaves and their attitude toward their masters. Though we do not have slaves any longer, the message is still the same, "Workers, obey, in everything, those who employ you." Notice we are not to do this with "eye service", working only when the boss is around, but we are to work with 'singleness of heart", let your job be the recipient of all your energies while you are at work.
In Paul's day, nearly half the people were slaves or indentured servants. Slavery was a way of life. Being an indentured servant was a way of getting out of debt and making a move to another place without funds. We may wonder why the early church did not get more involved in social issues like slavery, but we must remember that the mission of the early church was to save souls and not get involved in any activity that would create problems for this ministry.
The message of these verses is just as needed today as it was then. "Eye service is a way of life both to our employer and to our church. Paul calls these people who render only eye service, "people pleasers". They perform for people, not serving the Lord. Dedication is something that is hard to find in workers today, but Paul says it is our duty as Christians, both to our employers and to the Lord.
Paul ends the chapter with a word to the employer. To the worker he says, "Work heartily, and receive your reward." To the employer, he says, make sure that he gets his reward. In these verses Paul refers to our service to the Lord and instructs us to work heartily, knowing that the Lord will reward us. He also warns that the "wrongdoer", weather it be the employer or the worker, will be paid back for the wrong that he does.
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