Clothed in Christlikeness
Introduction
As I’ve mentioned before in this series, Paul’s letter to the Colossians is largely about growing in Christian maturity. In today’s passage Paul mentions one of the primary ways that Christians are to grow in Christlikeness: and that is through singing.
Music is powerful. As Peter Leithart puts it:
We sing in order to fulfill and mature in our vocation as priests, kings, and prophets in Christ, the high Priest-King and chief Prophet. Music is a sacrifice of praise...When we as the priestly city lift up the Lord on our praises, the Lord terrorizes our enemies. (p. 45)
One of the mysteries of the Christian life is the fact that we live in a spiritual war but that our battles are often fought on such seemingly trivial grounds. We know this because so many of Paul’s letters speak both of how Christians are triumphing over the powers and principalities in the heavenly places and how Christians are to order their households. Paul understood that these things are related. The way that we grow in Christian maturity and walk victoriously in spiritual warfare is in our small and faithful lives of worship and service.
Our passage this morning is broken down into two parts as it highlights this truth:
vv. 12-14 — Paul calls the Colossians to be clothed in the virtues of Christ
vv. 15-17 — Paul highlights the theme of thanksgiving in the peace, word and name of Christ.
Clothed in the Virtues of Christ (vv. 12-14)
Col 3:12-14 “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 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. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”
Last week I mentioned that Paul’s language of putting off and putting on was that of clothing. Paul wants the Colossian Christians to take off the clothing of the old man and put on the clothing of the new man, Jesus Christ. It is because the Colossians are united to Christ in every way that they should be motivated to put away earthly things and put on the things of Christ.
This morning our passage gets into the practical detail of what it looks like to be clothed in the virtues of Christ. But before Paul dives into the the list of virtues he’s like the Colossians to be characterized by he first layers in some amazing reminders about who the Colossians are as Christians.
In verse 12, Paul tells them that they are God’s chosen ones, that they are holy, and that they are beloved. There are two remarkable things about this short list of titles that Paul ascribes to the Christians in Colossae.
1. The first is that these are phrases that God used of Israel throughout the Law and the Prophets.
a. Psalm 105:43 “So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing.”
2. Secondly, these are terms that the Scriptures use to describe Jesus himself.
a. Jesus is the “holy one” (Mk 1:24) and Jesus is declared as the “beloved” Son of God (Matt 3:17)
Throughout his letter, Paul has been encouraging the Colossians that hey are truly part of the people of God because they are united to Jesus. By using these titles to describe the Colossians Paul is driving these points home. They are apart of God’s people because they are united to Christ.
› A quick point of admonition right here at the beginning is this. If you are a Christian, you are chosen of God, you are holy and you are beloved of God. Israel’s story is your story, you are a part of God’s people. This is all true of you because you have been united to Christ by the Spirit.
In the second half of verse 12 Paul lists out five virtues that he wants the Colossians to put on. Just as the list of vices from Col 3:5; 8 came in lists of five, so too do these virtues come in a list of five.
These virtues point to both the inward disposition and the outward actions of the Christian community. Your inward life should be characterized by compassionate hearts, humility and patience. And outwardly your interactions should be characterized by kindness and meekness.
By and large vv. 12-17 are a very positive section in Paul’s letter to the Colossians. If there is any part that has a hint of admonition in it it would be verse 13. In Col 3:13 Paul calls the Colossians to bear with one another and to forgive one another. These are positive qualities that Christians should strive for but they assume the very real fact that there will be conflict in the church.
The presence of conflict in the church should neither shock nor scandalize the Christian. In this life the church, just like the individual Christian is being sanctified. And as Christians live together they will have grievances with one another from time to time. Knowing this, Paul tells the Colossians that they are to bear with and forgive one another as they have been forgiven in Christ.
Here Paul echoes the teachings of Jesus in several places. In the Lord’s Prayer we petition God that he would forgive us our debts as we forgive the debts of others. In Matt 18:23-35Jesus tells the parable of the Unforgiving Servant who, having had his great debts forgiven by his master goes and requires a small debt to be repaid to him by another servant.
Both Jesus and Paul teach that there is an intimate connection between forgiveness and forgiving. NT Wright puts it this way:
First, it is utterly inappropriate for one who knows the joy and release of being forgiven to refuse to share that blessing with another. Second, it is highly presumptuous to refuse to forgive one whom Christ himself has already forgiven.
› The point of application here is quite obvious but it is worth telling you specifically. You must be quick to forgive if you are to walk faithfully as a Christian. This is key if Christ the King is going to be a healthy church. My time in this community has been relatively short but it is clear that there is a strong spirit of love and camaraderie in the body. But such a spirit can be difficult to maintain. If Christ the King is in the “honeymoon” phase of its communal life it is of paramount importance that you begin to bear with one another and forgive one another over the seemingly small things now.
› Sins are like weeds, they start small and thus they are easy to ignore. But if they are ignored long enough they will take over the entire garden and choke out its life.
› As a body, you must be quick to repent and to forgive one another so that the deceitfulness of sin can take no root in our midst.
And it is from verse 14 that we learn what this is to look like. Paul says that above all these virtues the Colossians should “put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Love is the chief theological virtue and if we do not have love for one another there is no way that we are going to be kind, gentle, patient and longsuffering with one another. As 1 Peter 4:8 states, “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”
It is this love that will bring harmony to our body here at Christ the King. And Paul is going to move forward with this musical theme of harmony as we move into our second section.
Giving Thanks in Christ’s Peace, Word, and Name (vv. 15-17)
Col 3:15-17 “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
As we move to this section it will be helpful to remember that the context is the corporate body of the church and not individual Christians. As Paul tells the Colossians to “let the Peace of Christ rule in their hearts, to let the word of Christ dwell in them richly, and to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,” he is talking about their communal life together. It is too easy for modern Christians to read such a beautiful passage and apply it chiefly to our internal lives. The primary location of the peace of Christ, the word of Christ, and the name of the Lord Jesus is his body, the church.
And this makes sense with what has already been said. Paul concluded the last section in verses 13 & 14 by calling the Colossians to live in longsuffering forgiveness and harmonious love with one another. Here, Paul speaks about the peace of Christ ruling in their hearts.
The harmony that should characterize our lives together is seen best in our weekly practice of the Eucharist where we extend the peace of Christ to one another. We are unified in Christ and therefore our communion with one another should be characterized by peace. This is why Paul emphasizes the fact that the church is called “in one body.”
This is why the second sentence in verse 15 is not a random insertion. When Paul says, “And be thankful”, he isn’t simply adding that in out of nowhere. Communities that are characterized by thankfulness and gratitude are ones that are also characterized by love and peace. If we are to be a church where the peace of Christ rules, it will rule as we express our thanks and gratitude to God.
In Col 3:16 where Paul tells the Colossians to“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly”. A major theme in the New Testament is that the God who dwelt with his people in the Tabernacle and the Temple now dwells with his people in the New Temple of Christ’s Body by His Spirit. God dwells with us by His Spirit and through his Word and he does so richly. We are not receiving second hand from God but rather the greatest of God’s blessings to us in Christ
Something to note here is the fact that Paul tells the Colossians that they are to “teach and admonish one another in all wisdom”. Whereas previously, Paul and Epaphras were the teachers, now Paul is telling the Colossians that they are to teach and admonish one another. And this does not mean that each one of them will take turn giving sermons. Rather, they are to teach and admonish one another by “singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
The modern evangelical church underestimates the power of music and song at its own peril. There is a reason why pop stars and the creators of marketing jingles are paid top dollar. Those who are in the production business know that it is through music that ideas, desires, and beliefs are implanted deeply in hearts and minds of people. I could all but guarantee that if I were to state the first part of any insurance company’s jingle that most if not all of you would be able to finish it. Moreover, the number of terrible lyrics that are still stuck in my head from various pop and rap songs I listened to in high school is at times troubling.
› God wants His word to dwell in us richly but we are in constant danger that the words of the gods of our culture will dwell in us more than God’s word. And this is why it is so important that you continue to commit yourself to singing God’s praises and giving thanks to God with his people. Do not simply let our psalms, hymns and songs happen when you come to church on Sunday morning. Take part, sing loudly, sing boldly so that the word of Christ might dwell richly in our midst.
The final admonition in this section by Paul is that the Colossians, and us by extension, should “do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus”. This admonition works in two directions. First, there is the “check on behaviour” (Wright) that comes with being a person who bears the name of Jesus. If you have been baptized, you bear the name of Jesus and this means that you are called to live a certain way. But there is also another side to doing all in the name of Jesus. Because you are a representative of Christ, you are also empowered to represent Christ by the Spirit of God. As St. Augustine wrote in his Confessions, “Lord, command what you will but grant what you command.”
Conclusion
I conclude with Paul’s final admonition to, once again, give thanks. In verse 17 the theme of thanks is enhanced by noting that we give thanks to God the Father through the Lord Jesus. Because Jesus is our mediator we are lifted up into the heavenly places and we have full access to our heavenly Father.
This is especially the case when Christians gather for worship together. So when we give thanks to God here in the coming minutes in our prayers, songs, and in receiving his flesh and blood let us believe that we are truly coming before the Father in the heavenlies through the Lord Jesus.
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