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(Opening Prayer)
Heavenly Father, be glorified this morning as we open your Word.
Open our ears to hear it.
Open our minds to understand it.
Open our hearts to believe it.
Open our mouths to confess it.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You today.
In Jesus' Name, Amen.
(Welcome)
Welcome to Central.
If this is your first time, I want to say, “Welcome Home!”
As an expository church, we prioritize preaching and teaching that focuses on a Christ-centered, holistic, and sequential approach to Scripture.
We enjoy preaching through books of the Bible and tackling each passage with a high view of Jesus Christ and an intent to be led into worship and transformation by what we find therein.
(Series Introduction)
Today as we continue our Colossians series.
We come to Colossians 3:12-17 and a sermon I have entitled, “Lord of Us”
(Opening Context)
Paul is writing to a church he has never visited.
He doesn’t know these people.
Paul wrote Colossians between 60-62 AD during his first imprisonment in Rome (Acts 28).
Paul also wrote Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon during this time.
Pastor Epaphras planted the Colossian church and came to Paul because they had problems that needed to be addressed.
Paul writes this letter in the midst of their many heresies with one solution in mind - Correct Christology.
A low view of Christ was the problem, Paul gave us a high view of Christ.
We have learned that the root of the dysfunction in Colossae, Hieropolis, and Laodicea was because of an incorrect view of Jesus Christ.
Paul reminds the people that Jesus is everything and understanding Who He is, is vital to living the Christian life in the way that He intends us to live.
Listen to what Paul says to the Colossian church.
Colossians 3:12–17 (ESV)
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.
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.
And be thankful.
16 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.
17 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.
1.
If Christ Is Lord of Us, Then We Must Reflect Him
Colossians 3:12–14 (ESV)
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.
With the imperative "Put on then” (v.
12) the positive appeal begins.
This section, which stands in contrast to verses 5–11, also follows on from 3:1–4.
A fivefold list of virtues (v.
12) contrasts with the two fivefold lists of vices (vs.
5, 8) of the preceding paragraph.
Having spoken of the new nature in verse 10, Paul indicates what he means by this.
As “God’s chosen people” who have already put on the ‘new person’, the Colossians must clothe themselves with the graces which show them to be different.
God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved are special titles which were used of Israel as God’s own possession in the OT (Is.
43:20; 65:9) and of Christ in the NT (Lk.
23:35; Mk. 1:24; Lk. 4:34; Mt. 3:17).
Their use here underlines the point of the Christian’s similarity to Christ.
It is Jesus who is the chosen one.
What a remarkable privilege it is, then, that we are addressed in the same way as Christ!
This is a powerful motive to behave in a Christlike way.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary (3:12)
Again Paul called on believers to take a decisive action: Clothe yourselves (endysasthe).
Because they have “put on (endysamenoi) the new self” (v.
10), they should live accordingly, with appropriate attributes and attitudes.
In verses 8–9 Paul listed six vices (anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language, and lying).
Now in contrast to them, Christians—as God’s chosen people (cf.
Rom.
8:33; Titus 1:1), holy (“separated to God”; cf.
Col. 1:2) and dearly loved (cf.
Rom.
5:8; 1 John 4:9–11, 19)—are to have several virtues.
These include compassion (splanchna oiktirmou, lit., “tender sympathy of heartfelt compassion”—an unusually touching expression; in Phil.
2:1 Paul joined these two nouns with “and”), kindness (benevolence in action; cf. 2 Cor.
6:6), humility (a lowly attitude toward God; cf.
Phil.
2:3; 1 Peter 5:5), gentleness (prautēta), meekness, a lowly attitude toward others, and patience (makrothymian, self-restraint, a steady response in the face of provocation; cf.
Col. 1:11).
The last three of these are mentioned in the Greek in the same order in Ephesians 4:2; and Galatians 5:22–23 in the Greek includes three of them: patience and gentleness, as well as kindness.)
Paul returns to the clothing metaphor and commands the Colossians to “put on” various character traits.
Interestingly, Paul says they have put on the new self (v.
10) but also must put on these qualities (v.
12).
This list of qualities reflects closely the character of Christ himself, in a way similar to 1 Corinthians 13.
Paul’s command is qualified by descriptions of what the Colossians are in Christ.
He focuses on the status of believers as united to Christ (“God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved”).
Paul is not calling for a moral “self-help” drive.
Rather he wants the life of Christ to be seen more distinctly in the Colossians’ lives.
He desires them to live consistently with the spiritual realities that are already true.
Christ is Lord of All and Must Be Lord of Us
Paul emphasizes the attitudes that will foster true community among believers.
In particular, he calls Christians to demonstrate grace toward each other, as the Lord has shown grace to them.
This recalls the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 6:14–15.
Matthew 6:14–15 (ESV)
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,
15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Furthermore, believers are to bear with each other with the attitudes just mentioned in Colossians 3:12.
Also they are to forgive whatever grievances (complaints) they may have against others.
How?
By forgiving as the Lord forgave them, graciously and freely (Eph.
4:32).
Grudges have no place in a Christian’s life for they may lead to the sins mentioned in Colossians 3:8–9.
The New Bible Commentary (3:12–17 Put on the Graces of Christ)
As a result of their being clothed with patience they are to show continual forbearance toward each other.
When legitimate complaints within the community arise, the readers are urged to forgive … one another.
Paul employs a special verb for forgive (‘cancelled the debts’ in the parable of the two debtors, Lk. 7:42) which is used elsewhere of God’s gracious giving or forgiving (Rom.
8:32; 1 Cor.
2:12; Eph.
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