Transcript

The following true story is regarding the Yugoslavian Christian church’s suffering under a corrupt church hierarchy.

One day an evangelist by the name of Jakov arrived in a certain village. He commiserated with an elderly man named Cimmerman on the tragedies he had experienced and talked to him of the love of Christ.

Cimmerman abruptly interrupted Jakov and told him that he wished to have nothing to do with Christianity.

He reminded Jakov of the dreadful history of the church in his town, a history replete with plundering, exploiting, and even with killing innocent people.

“My own nephew was killed by them,” he said and angrily rebuffed any effort on Jakov’s part to talk about Christ.

“They wear those elaborate coats and crosses,” he said, “signifying a heavenly commission, but their evil designs and lives I cannot ignore.”

Jakov, looking for an occasion to get Cimmerman to change his line of thinking, said, “Cimmerman, can I ask you a question?

“Suppose I were to steal your coat, put it on, and break into a bank. Suppose further that the police sighted me running in the distance but could not catch up with me. One clue, however, put them onto your track: they recognize your coat.

“What would you say to them if they came to your house and accused you of breaking into the bank?” “I would deny it,” said Cimmerman.

“‘Ah, but we saw your coat,’ they would say,” retorted Jakov. This analogy quite annoyed Cimmerman, who ordered Jakov to leave his home.

Jakov continued to return to the village periodically just to befriend Cimmerman, encourage him, and share Christ’s love with him. Finally one day when he visited him, Cimmerman asked, “How does one become a Christian?”

Jakov proceeded to share the gospel with him that Christ died for his sins, was buried, and rose again, and Cimmerman dropped to his knees, bowed his head and trusted Christ as his personal Savior.

As he rose to his feet, wiping his tears, he then embraced Jakov and said, “Thank you for being in my life.” And then he pointed to the heavens and said, “You wear His coat very well.”

Like putting on a coat we are taught to wear the attributes of Christ in our lives; wearing that coat of practical righteousness and to wear it very well.

Paul told the Colossians in 1:27, that all who have trusted Christ as their Savior have “Christ IN you, the hope of glory.” Here Paul is showing the Colossians how that life of Christ should be outworked practically in our lives.

Colossians 3:10-11: “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.”

This passage shifts from the negative instruction in verses 5-9 to the positive in verses 10-14. Paul is referring to the moment of salvation in verses 9 and 10 when he speaks of the time when “ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man.”

At the same time that the old man was put off in Christ, verse 10 tells us that the new man was put on.

With the putting off of the old nature there has come a new nature, the new man. We have laid aside the old garment, the “hand me down” rags from Adam and have put on the new garment, the new man in Christ.

What is true about every believer is that our old self has been put off and laid aside and we have put on the new man, which describes our position as new creations in Christ. We now are secure in an inseparable union with Christ and are fully identified with His life.

This is our standing and position in Christ. And Paul uses this as the high goal for the believer to now experience in their daily practice. Because each believer still retains the old man and at the same time now has a new, divinely-imparted nature, the new man.

But in Christ, the old man with his deeds has been put off, so now in practice we are taught to do the same by the power of the Holy Spirit: put off the old man with his deeds.

In Christ, the new man has been put on, so now in practice we need to continually put on the new man with its deeds as seen in verses 12-14, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And this new man “is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him.”

The new man is renewed in knowledge. The knowledge by which we spiritually grow and are renewed is through God’s Word. The new man is hungry to know and grow in what God says in His Word.

The goal of our growth and being renewed in knowledge of God’s Word is so that we might be “after the image of Him.” In other words, that we might grow to be more and more like Christ, that we might be conformed to His image.

Ephesians 4:24 states, “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

The constant renewal of the new man is wrought by God, Who created the new man in us, and God Himself engages and works in the new man to produce the likeness of Christ in us as we grow in knowledge and apply the Word to our hearts and lives. It is God’s plan that believers become progressively more righteous and holy like Christ.

And every believer in Christ, regardless of national distinction (Greek or Jew), religious distinction (circumcision or uncircumcision), cultural distinction (Barbarian or Scythian), and social distinction (slave or free), all are transformed in the same way: by Christ and to become more like Christ.

Christ dwells in all who believe, He means all to those who believe, and we’re all one in Him. For all in Christ, Christ is our all. And it’s been said well that “The three words, Christ is all, are the essence and substance of Christianity.”

It is Christ who really counts. He is everything to the believer. He represents the center and circumference of our entire life. We find all that we ever need in Him. He is the goal.

Colossians 3:12: “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering.”

In verses 5-9, Paul had told the Colossians what needed to be “put off,” or cast off like a dirty shirt in their lives, sins such as fornication, covetousness, anger, and filthy communication. Now he turns in verse 12 to speak of what we need to “put on.”

The words “put on” speak of putting on a piece of clothing or a coat. God wants us to obediently put on these righteous, Christ-like qualities in life.

And we are to do so, because we are “the elect of God,” who are “holy” in His sight, and “beloved,” deeply and dearly loved by Almighty God.

The “elect of God” are believers, who of their own free will have placed their faith in Christ that He died for their sins, was buried, and rose again.

In Isaiah 42:1, God the Father called His Son, “mine elect.” Christ is the elect One and by virtue of our inseparable union with Him, we are the “elect of God” as well, God’s special people, belonging wholly to Him.

Paul reminded the Colossians of who they were, because an appreciation of who one is affects how we behave. God has set all believers apart for great things.

And regarding our manner of life in light of this Pastor Charles Baker states therefore, “We must uphold the honor of our Father and of our family.”

Paul says also that, in Christ and by the blood of Christ, we are “holy” in God’s sight, righteous, pure, and set apart to God.

In light of this, our practical conduct should also be holy and righteous; we should be set apart from the world, set apart from sin, and set apart to God, for His use and His glory.

And we are the “beloved” of God. Love is the greatest motivating power in the world, and God’s unconditional, abiding love for us, should motivate us to obey His command to “put on” His spiritual wardrobe.

Putting on the characteristics which follow is the same as obeying what Romans 13:14 tells us to do: “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.”

We are literally putting on Christ as we yield to God and obey His command to put on these virtues of Christ in our daily lives, because Christ is the One who is truly merciful, kind, humble, meek, longsuffering, forbearing, forgiving, and loving.

One author put it this way: “When I get up in the morning I put on my clothes, intending them to be part of me all day, to go where I go and do what I do. They cover me and make me presentable to others. That is the purpose of clothes.

“In the same way, the apostle is saying to us, ‘Put on Jesus Christ when you get up in the morning. Make Him a part of your life that day. Intend that He go with you everywhere you go, and that He act through you in everything you do. Call upon His resources. Live your life IN CHRIST.’”

The first virtue God would have us “put on” is “bowels of mercies.” This speaks of having a heart of compassion, it’s mercy in action, having a deep, gut-level, heartfelt sympathy for others.

God doesn’t want His own to be indifferent to others and their needs, but having been touched by the tender mercies of Christ to reach out and show His mercy to others, by reaching out with the gospel or helping those who hurt or need encouragement.

And note how both words are plural. It’s not just one act of mercy, but mercies plural, as there are always those who need the mercy of God. Bowels of mercies is something we can show at all times to many people, in countless different ways.

Pastor Dave Travis writes: One Sunday at my church, the choir had finished singing and I then rose to deliver the message.

Suddenly, a teenage girl, from the front row of the choir, rose and stepped out across her fellow choir members and around the piano. She made her way down the steps and toward the side aisle.

I thought, If she is going to leave, she should go out the back door. But she was not leaving. She made her way to the fourth row of pews, sat down next to her friend and gently placed her arm around her.

Then I knew. Twelve hours earlier her friend had lost her grandmother, who had been suffering from an illness. Her friend came to church to restore her strength through worship. Arriving late, she found an open pew and sat by herself.

This teenager sat next to her and put her arm around her, demonstrating Christ’s love to all through a simple act of compassion and kindness. I proceeded to preach my message, but that teenager delivered a stronger message that day.

The Holy Spirit also teaches us to put on “kindness.” The term speaks of being thoughtful, gracious, generous, and good.

Kindness is expressed in attitude and deed. It is the friendly and helpful spirit which seeks to meet the needs of others through kind deeds.

God is kind. And putting on these virtues is about being imitators of Him. He has been and is infinitely kind to us,

In Titus, Paul wrote how we “were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.”

But then everything changed. “But after that the KINDNESS and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared.” Paul is saying, “You know, what transformed my life? The kindness of God.”

And out of His infinite riches and grace, God will show His kindness to us for all eternity. Ephesians 2:7 states, “That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His KINDNESS toward us through Christ Jesus.”

And in putting on Christ, God would have us put on kindness and selflessly show simple acts of care and kindness to those around us in life.

We are taught also to put on “humbleness of mind.” We are not to consider ourselves in any way as superior to others. Humility is about having a realistic view of oneself. It’s “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think” as Romans 12:3 puts it.

Paul had spoken of the false humility of the false teachers in Colosse in chapter 2, now he expresses the need for believers to demonstrate a true humility, a genuine lowliness of mind.

And Christ is our example of true humility. Philippians 2:5,8 states: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Being found in fashion as a Man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross.”

Putting on humility, and really all these virtues, is done by living out the mind of Christ. As we do so, we will resemble Him in thought, feeling, and action.

In 1 Peter 5:5,6, Peter instructed his hearers to “be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God.”

Humility can be difficult to put into practice because that old man is proud, and he wants its rights, recognition, glory, and to be first. The solution to this is as F.B. Meyer says, “The only hope of a decreasing self is an increasing Christ.” As Christ has more and more of us, we’ll “put on” humbleness of mind and be “clothed in humility.”

Proverbs 11:2 states, “When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.” Philippians 2:3 states, “but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”

Putting on humbleness of mind is about esteeming others better than ourselves and it leads to the willing subjection of oneself under the authority of God.

This in turn allows God to direct our paths, and the Holy Spirit to work and to faithfully conform the believer to the character of Christ.

Paul taught the Body of Christ that we should also put on “meekness.” Meekness speaks of a quiet, controlled inner strength and gentleness; it is a mild, non-aggressive, heart attitude, which is disciplined and submissive to God and His will.

In secular Greek writings, the word translated “meekness” was used to describe a soothing wind, a healing medicine, and a horse that had been broken.

In each instance, there is power for a wind can become a storm, too much medicine can kill and a horse can break loose. Thus, the term describes power under control.

Meekness is not weakness; it is real strength, inner strength under the control of God.

It is, as the others, a characteristic of Christ. Our Lord said in Matthew 11:29: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

We are further taught to put on “longsuffering,” which speaks of being long-tempered, not easily provoked, patient.

Earlier in this letter, Paul prayed for the Colossians to be “Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and LONGSUFFERING with joyfulness” (Col. 1:11).

John Beukema tells about a Texas teacher who was helping one of her kindergarten students put on his cowboy boots. He asked for help, and she could see why.

Even with her pulling and him pushing, the little boots still didn’t want to go on.

By the time they got the second boot on, she had worked up a sweat.

She almost cried when the little boy said, “Teacher, they’re on the wrong feet.” She looked, and sure enough, they were. It wasn’t any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on.

She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on, this time on the right feet. He then announced, “These aren’t my boots.”

She bit her tongue rather than frustratingly say, “Why didn’t you say so?” Once again, she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off his little feet.

No sooner had they gotten the boots off when he said, “They’re my brother’s boots. My mom made me wear ‘em.”

Now she didn’t know if she should laugh or cry, but she mustered up what grace and courage she had left to wrestle the boots on his feet again. Helping him into his coat, she asked, “Now, where are your mittens?” He said, “Oh, I stuffed ‘em in the toes of my boots.”

That’s putting “longsuffering” into practice! Difficult people and circumstances in our lives can make longsuffering difficult to live out. However, we are promised God’s help in this area.

By the indwelling Holy Spirit we are “strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power” to be more patient and longsuffering.

God is longsuffering. During this present evil age, God is demonstrating His longsuffering as He gives all people an opportunity to be saved.

And as all believers are not perfect in their practice, God is also patient and longsuffering with the Church as we grow in Christ. One aspect of godliness (or God-likeness) is to be patient and longsuffering like Him.

God wants us to endure patiently and suffer long with those who may try our patience to the limit. The old man lashes out, retaliates, and is impatient, but God wants self-restraint in His strength as we put on the new man. God’s selfless love teaches us that “Charity suffereth long, and…is not easily provoked” (1 Cor. 13:4-5).

Living out this attribute of Christ in our relationships can make a great difference in the quality of these relationships and, in turn, the quality of our lives.

Colossians 3:13-14: “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.”

Paul says the believer should be “forbearing” to one another, which speaks of bearing with one another, making an effort to get along, putting up with things, enduring through little offenses done against you.

We need to be forbearing with one another because God’s still working on all of us, none of us are perfect on this side of heaven, and we all have weaknesses and areas for growth.

We are to be forbearing one another with the attitudes just mentioned in verse 12, with mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, and longsuffering. And Ephesians 4:2 teaches us to be “forbearing one another in love,” in God’s selfless and kind agape love, that is.

The only way a believer can carry out this action (especially with the proper inner attitude) is by God’s grace, with Christ’s mindset of selfless care for others, and by putting on the new man.

Not only does the Lord expect us to endure through wrongs, but He also wants us to forgive the wrongs done to us. Paul tells us “if any man have a quarrel against any” or if the believer has a just cause of blame, a ground for complaint, we’re to forgive.

Old Joe was dying. For years he had been at odds with Bill, formerly one of his best friends. Wanting to straighten things out, he sent word for Bill to come and see him.

When Bill arrived, Joe told him that he was afraid to go into eternity with such a bad feeling between them. Then, very reluctantly and with great effort, Joe apologized for things he had said and done.

He also assured Bill that he forgave him for his offenses. Everything seemed fine until Bill turned to go. As he walked out of the room, Joe called out after him, “But, remember, if I get better, this doesn’t count!” We may smile at this story, yet it gives an honest picture of the way we often treat one another.

In the original Greek, the word for “forgiving” is built on the Greek word for “grace” and means that we are to treat the person who wronged us graciously; we are to show grace in forgiving others, to freely forgive the undeserving unconditionally.

Like all these other characteristics, it’s Christ-like to forgive. We demonstrate the character of Christ in our lives as we do. He is the Model and motive for forgiveness.

Christ has forgiven us all our sins, and as He is our example and our Goal as we strive to be like Him, so we also must forgive others.

We find an important distinction between Law and Grace with forgiveness, as those living under Israel’s kingdom program were required to forgive in order to be forgiven.

During our Lord’s earthly ministry in Mark 11:26, He stated, “But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” The gospel of the kingdom required a person to forgive to be forgiven by God.

Under Grace, however, under our Lord’s heavenly ministry, He tells us through Paul that we’re to forgive because we are already forgiven in Christ. And as Colossians 2:13 states, we are “forgiven all trespasses.” As freely, fully, and graciously as Christ has forgiven us, we are to forgive others. And we do this by grace.

It has been pointed out that “Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have someone to forgive, and then to mention the subject at all is to be greeted with howls of anger” (C. S. Lewis).

But as we put on the new man and we clothe ourselves in Christ’s forgiveness and obey God’s instruction, we’ll find that this is what’s best for us.

This in turn will keep other sins out of our life, such as the ones listed earlier in verse 8: anger, wrath, malice.

Finally, Paul says “above all these things,” or on top of all this and most importantly, the crowning grace that we are to “put on” is “charity.” We’re to clothe ourselves in God’s active, selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love.

As we put on love, we’re truly putting on Christ. Christ is love. In infinite love, He gave Himself for us and died for our sins.

As Paul stated in Ephesians 5:2: “Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God.”

God’s love is the “bond of perfectness.” Love perfects these qualities; it is the bond or the “super-glue,” the power that binds and ties these graces together, making them a complete, harmonious whole. Love ties everything together like a belt.

Love, in its binding power, gives perfectness, to the other virtues in combination.

Lacking love, they would not be perfect or complete. Bowels of mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, forbearance, forgiveness must all be done in love.

And as the believer puts on these virtues, bound by love, we’ll be demonstrating Christ’s life in us, and we will be “wearing His coat very well.”