Clothed with Christ

February 17, 2013 Background Scripture: Colossians 3 Lesson Passage: Colossians 3:5 – 17 In 2 Corinthians 5:3, the Apostle Paul speaks of being clothed as a condition or state whereby one is not found naked. Of course in this context, Paul speaks of the body as an outer material covering for the spiritual or immaterial person. We are born with a body of flesh that inherits sin and is mortal. In other words, the spiritual person is born with a flesh covering that is corruptible and decaying. We who are saved have a renewed spiritual person but we are still confined to the corruptible fleshly clothing we are born with. Paul speaks of a groaning in the spirit of redeemed mankind to be clothed upon with an incorruptible and immortal body that would be the perfect complement for our redeemed and renewed spiritual person. Paul further expounded on this concept in the letter he penned to the Colossian church. In the Corinthian letter, Paul addressed this matter from the standpoint of a Christian’s desire for the glorification process to be completed knowing that this will only happen after the physical death and the resurrection of the righteous dead. In the Colossian letter, Paul addressed this matter from the standpoint of the sanctification process the Christian goes through in this life. In the sanctification process, this putting on of newness is a day by day process. None of us wake up fully clothed in Christ in this life. In fact, at the time we are saved, we have received Christ on the inside but we are fully clothed with the old corrupt nature on the outside. It is from this point that the sanctification process begins. Day by day we are to shed bits and pieces of the old nature and embrace more and more of the anointing of Christ that is within us. We allow the Spirit of Christ within us to begin to emerge on the outside when we put away more and more of what we used to be. Anger, hatefulness, malice, blasphemy, and filthy talk are all part of the old nature and must be consciously rejected by Christians. How do we do this? First, we should understand that we don’t get rid of things just to get rid of them. That was part of the failure of the Law to redeem man because man’s old nature of flesh made the Law weak. When we put off things just because they are wrong, this only leaves us naked and vulnerable to more demonic attacks. Instead, we put off the old to put on the new and therefore we are never found naked—which we will constantly reject. We know about the old nature because we were born with it and we nurtured it all of our lives until we accepted Christ. We knew it was wrong before but since we knew of nothing to replace it with, we continued to nurture and maintain it. Salvation brought a regenerated person on the inside that is inconsistent with the outer person. The second thing we must do then is learn about the new nature so that we can begin to put on the new as we take off the old. We learn by studying and embracing the word of God. It is because of the word of God that we understand that it is imperative that we walk in patience, forgiveness, mercy towards others, and benevolent love that is motivated by the needs of others. All of these are consistent with being clothed with Christ. Because of these things we are able to receive peace and experience joy through the outpouring of the grace of God upon the redeemed that walk in obedience. Our response to this is heartfelt thanksgiving, praise, and worship of God. Robert C. Hudson February 6, 2013