By: Dale Weckbacher
Colossians 3:13-14
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.
(ESV)
Nicodemus is an example of a stealth believer in
Christ. He affirms his belief by citing Jesus
as a teacher from God based upon the signs Jesus performed (John
3:2). However, so other religious
leaders did not see him, Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night to prevent jeopardizing
his position in the synagogue (John
3:1-2). Jesus responds to this
affirmation by teaching this affirmation is not sufficient for one to see the
Kingdom of God, for to do that requires one be born again (John
3:3). Nicodemus erroneously believes
Jesus is speaking of a second physical birth but Jesus speaks of a new
spiritual birth or a change of spiritual wardrobe (John
3:4-15). This new wardrobe consists
of,
1)
Compassionate hearts (Colossians 3:12) – Jesus
taught that love for one another in the Church is what differentiates the
Church from other groups of people (John
13:35). To enable His followers to
have this level of love, Jesus provides a cloak of compassion.
2)
Kindness (Colossians
3:12) – Love is kind (1
Corinthians 13:4). Therefore, when
putting on the cloak of compassion, we must secure it with kindness. Unfortunately, when we see another in the
church behaving or speaking in a manner not giving glory to God, it is easy to
become judgmental or unkind when offering words of correction. Instead we must put on the cloak of
compassion, secured by the belt of kindness, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, offering words of correction with compassion
and not judgmentally.
3)
Humility (Colossians
3:12) – As Christians, we have a secure future of eternal life with the
Lord. As such it would be easy to gloat
in what we have compared to what the lost in the world have. However, Jesus did not command His followers
to go into all the world and gloat about what they have. Instead, Jesus commanded His followers to go
into the world preaching the Gospel which is not about works but grace (Mark
16:15; Matthew 28:19-20; Ephesians 2:8).
This requires putting on humility through declaration we too have sin in
our lives but have received salvation because of what Jesus has done (Romans
3:23).
4)
Meekness (Colossians
3:12) – Meekness is a quiet strength.
It is knowing that while we are weak in our flesh, we are strong in
Christ and able to do whatever Jesus commands us to do (Philippians
4:13). Christians can demonstrate
meekness by knowing they are saved by the grace of God (Ephesians
2:8) and have access to the wardrobe of the armor of God (Ephesians
6:10-17). The Apostle Paul was
physically weak and out of commission in Jail yet demonstrates meek strength
through writing letters, like Colossians, to the church while in prison.
5)
Patience (Colossians
3:12) – Patience for a Christian is the ability to move at God’s pace and
not our own. This is difficult in a digital
world where information and communication share at the speed of light. The hat of patience in our wardrobe causes us
to slow down our thinking to match God’s pace.
However, just as faith without works is dead (James
2:14), a closet full of a new spiritual wardrobe is worthless unless worn
for others to see (Matthew
5:16). Christians must wear this new
wardrobe in a manner giving glory to God and pointing people to Jesus by
showing what it means to live for Christ.
Not only must born again Christians wear their new wardrobe, but they
must wear it,
1)
With forgiveness (Colossians
3:13) – Christians must wear the cloak of compassion with forgiveness
modeling how Jesus forgave them.
2)
With love (Colossians
3:14) – Genuine kindness is a belt worn with love modeling the kindness of
God demonstrated by sending His Son to die for sinners (Romans 5:8).
3)
With peace and Thanksgiving (Colossians
3:15) – Christians wear humility with peace and thanksgiving through having
peace in the security of their salvation and thankfulness it is not the result
of their own effort (Ephesians
2:8)
4)
With sound Doctrine (Colossians
3:16) – The strength in the garment of meekness is sound biblical doctrine
otherwise our meekness would be weakness that the enemy could use to take out
Christians. Sound biblical doctrine is
the starch providing firmness to the garment of meekness.
5)
For the Glory of God (Colossians
3:17) – Patience comes as Christians share the Gospel message in Gods
timing, and for His glory.
The world needs to see Christians wearing their new
wardrobes provided by Jesus. Unfortunately,
fear of rejection, retribution, or persecution often cause Christians to be
like Nicodemus, leaving our born-again wardrobe in the closet or not wearing it
in a Godly manner. My prayer is that
those reading this would open the closet of their born-again wardrobe and boldly
wear it for the glory of God.
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