Colossians 3:12

Paul starts with what we should stop (what we should not be known for) and then what we should be known for.

Again, it is instructive that Paul starts with the negative.

First, we have to acknowledge what is wrong.

Paul did not present a Christianity that sweeps things under the rug, refuses to acknowledge sin (wrongdoing), or is all about smiles. Such a Christianity is incomplete. It's like taking Paul's words and cutting about half of them off and just retaining the feel-good ones.

Paul said that people should put off lying and anger. As might have noted, Paul is not focused on how you feel but speaks things from God’s perspective since he is the apostle not from man but from God.

But we have the tendency to skip over scriptures and focus on the ones that make us feel good, the ones that do not challenge the sins we hold dear; we do not want the light of the word to shine into our hearts to reveal the corruption there.

But we need to understand also the kind of way Paul goes about motivating Christians for good behavior, which is:

• Do not try to do them in your own strength, but recognize that you are now a new person.

• While we had been fueled by evil nature, now you have a new nature.

• Live based on the new you, which does not come from you but Christ in you.

So Paul is shining a light on the new you so that you can recognize it and gain a spiritual understanding of it.

That teaching means your action comes from your identity and not the other way.

That is counterintuitive.

We want people to prove themselves, and then we give them a certificate. But in Christ, we are given the certificate based on the Christ in you, and then we are told to live that out.

I agree; it does not make sense to the natural man. Paul called it the things of the spirit, which are foolishness to the natural man (1 Corinthians 2:14). I cannot emphasize that strongly enough unless we want to rebel against the word.

Paul continually writes in that vein, and we should not miss that. Any inversion and we have the old covenant all over again, where you have to earn God’s favor with good behavior and sacrifices.

Of course, fear of people taking advantage of the message of God’s grace to live anyhow will make us buck at this teaching. This is not new. Read Romans 3:8. The question is, as preachers, are we going to submit to the word of God or create our own religion?

We must resist following our instincts and follow the truth, as well as resist the fear of man. This is a call for courage.

The problem comes when people don’t think asking people to stop lying is against the message of grace. It is also the message of grace. It is God being gracious to you to tell you what pleases him as his child.

Elect of God: God's action before time

That is the foundation of the new you. You were elected. You are a Christian because God has chosen you. Paul does not present good behavior as a way to become elect, to become Christian. You are the elect of God, which means you are beginning from the foundation of rest. You are not trying to earn points with God; rather, Paul is saying to live true to yourself.

Holy: God's action in time

Again, God's decision separates you to himself. You have become God's, and nothing can take you out of his hands.

Dearly beloved: God's feelings

We are children of God. For God, you are not just a dot on a screen he watches in his room; you are not a data point or a means to an end for him. He is not using you to feel good about himself. You were the endpoint.

You are not an afterthought, and he is not trying to go on to achieve another project after catching you. He is not putting you on a shelf after grabbing you and then going on to other project projects. You are dearly beloved.

Clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,

Again, we have another list, but this one has seven, with two coming in the next verse. Again, we would regard the first on the list as the controlling factor.

Here, we are learning that whatever good behavior we should express comes from the heart. Jesus said out of the heart comes what defiles (Matthew 15:18-19).

Basically, Paul is saying we should mirror God one to another, being the immediate context of the words of this verse.

We need to see ourselves as recipients of God's mercy and kindness, the humility of Christ's condescending saving of us, his gentleness with us, and his patience with us. And from that flow to others, from a changed heart.

We are not told to figure things out ourselves; we are told how we should be and who we should be.