Put On the New Clothes of Christ (Col. 3:5-10)
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There is a saying that "Fine clothes make the man." If you put on the clothes of a prince or a princess, you may be regarded as a prince or a princess. If you put on the clothes of a hobo, you may be treated as a hobo. What are the fine clothes for you as a Christian?
When you still wear the old clothes which you had put on before you knew and accepted Christ, other people may not consider you a Christian although you insist that you are a Christian. Thus, as a Christian, you need to wear the clothes of Christ.
Paul compares the human flesh(=body) to clothes or a dwelling place(=tent).
In 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 Paul says: "For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling--if indeed, when we have taken it off we will not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee."
That is, our body is a temporary dwelling place--tent--for our spirit and soul to live in this world. Our eternal home is the heaven. Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:19 says that our body is a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. So you need to keep your body clean.
Paul also says that our body is the clothes that we wear. In Ephesians 4:22-24 he says: "You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."
Other people may judge you according to what kind of dress you wear, according to its looks, color, and quality. Any person's nature and conduct are the standard to be judged what kind of person he/she is. Thus, the words such as a color of one's nature, quality of one's nature are used to describe the person's character or disposition.
As clothes are the material that covers our body, our body is the material--outer self--that covers our inner self--soul and spirit. If we wear our clothes for a long time, our clothes will be worn out eventually. If we have been wearing our body for more than 70 years, our clothes of body would be worn out, be torn, and get wrinkled.
Yet, no matter how the clothes become old and discolored, the design and the pattern of the clothes remain the same unless you put it off. In the same manner, no matter how a person gets old and wrinkled, the pattern and the color of his life may not change easily.
When you still wear the old clothes which you had put on before you knew and accepted Christ, other people may not consider you a Christian although you insist that you are a Christian. Thus, as a Christian, you need to wear the clothes of Christ.
Paul compares the human flesh(=body) to clothes or a dwelling place(=tent).
In 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 Paul says: "For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling--if indeed, when we have taken it off we will not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee."
That is, our body is a temporary dwelling place--tent--for our spirit and soul to live in this world. Our eternal home is the heaven. Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:19 says that our body is a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. So you need to keep your body clean.
Paul also says that our body is the clothes that we wear. In Ephesians 4:22-24 he says: "You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."
Other people may judge you according to what kind of dress you wear, according to its looks, color, and quality. Any person's nature and conduct are the standard to be judged what kind of person he/she is. Thus, the words such as a color of one's nature, quality of one's nature are used to describe the person's character or disposition.
As clothes are the material that covers our body, our body is the material--outer self--that covers our inner self--soul and spirit. If we wear our clothes for a long time, our clothes will be worn out eventually. If we have been wearing our body for more than 70 years, our clothes of body would be worn out, be torn, and get wrinkled.
Yet, no matter how the clothes become old and discolored, the design and the pattern of the clothes remain the same unless you put it off. In the same manner, no matter how a person gets old and wrinkled, the pattern and the color of his life may not change easily.
2
In Colossians 3:9, Paul tells the Christians at Colossae and us to "put off the old self and its practices." The pattern and the color of the old self are: "fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, greed, anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive language from your mouth and lie." You need to put off your old self and its practices to be a good Christian.
If any person says that he believes in Christ, yet has this kind of old self and its practices in him, he has not put off the clothes of the old self. Instead, he is trying to patch up the old clothes with a piece of Christ, or he is trying to draw a pattern of Christ on the old clothes without putting it off. Thus, his appearance seems to be funny. He wears clothes which were patched up with a different piece of color or quality of cloth.
Jesus says in Mark 2:21: "No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made." Here, a piece of unshrunk cloth is a part of cloth which was cut off from the new clothes of Christ. If anyone attaches this piece to the old clothes, his old clothes will be more torn away. And he wears his ragged old clothes. Thus, his appearance seems to be worse than before. We should put off the old clothes, when we accept Christ as our personal Savior and want to become new in Christ.
Paul commands simply: "Put off the old self and its practices!"
But this is not so simple, rather it is difficult. It is impossible to do with our human will and efforts. Thus, we Christians keep showing our ugly appearances, wearing the old clothes patched up with a piece of Christ.
Although it is impossible to put off our old clothes with our human will and efforts, it is possible with the help of the Holy Spirit.
'Putting off the old self and putting on the new self' is the grace of God for us. What we can do is to simply ask God to help us through the Holy Spirit to put on the new self. By the grace of God and the help of the Holy Spirit, we put off the old self and put on the new self. Its practices are compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and love.
Those who put on the new clothes of Christ have the practices of the new self: that is, 1) the peace of Christ rules in their hearts with the words of thankfulness; 2) the word of Christ dwells in them, so they teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and praise God; 3) whatever they do in word or in deed, they do everything in the name of Jesus, and give thanks to God.
If any person says that he believes in Christ, yet has this kind of old self and its practices in him, he has not put off the clothes of the old self. Instead, he is trying to patch up the old clothes with a piece of Christ, or he is trying to draw a pattern of Christ on the old clothes without putting it off. Thus, his appearance seems to be funny. He wears clothes which were patched up with a different piece of color or quality of cloth.
Jesus says in Mark 2:21: "No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made." Here, a piece of unshrunk cloth is a part of cloth which was cut off from the new clothes of Christ. If anyone attaches this piece to the old clothes, his old clothes will be more torn away. And he wears his ragged old clothes. Thus, his appearance seems to be worse than before. We should put off the old clothes, when we accept Christ as our personal Savior and want to become new in Christ.
Paul commands simply: "Put off the old self and its practices!"
But this is not so simple, rather it is difficult. It is impossible to do with our human will and efforts. Thus, we Christians keep showing our ugly appearances, wearing the old clothes patched up with a piece of Christ.
Although it is impossible to put off our old clothes with our human will and efforts, it is possible with the help of the Holy Spirit.
'Putting off the old self and putting on the new self' is the grace of God for us. What we can do is to simply ask God to help us through the Holy Spirit to put on the new self. By the grace of God and the help of the Holy Spirit, we put off the old self and put on the new self. Its practices are compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and love.
Those who put on the new clothes of Christ have the practices of the new self: that is, 1) the peace of Christ rules in their hearts with the words of thankfulness; 2) the word of Christ dwells in them, so they teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and praise God; 3) whatever they do in word or in deed, they do everything in the name of Jesus, and give thanks to God.
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When you wear the new clothes of Christ, your old self is gone away.
Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:17, thus, says: "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!"
Put off your old clothes and put on the new clothes of Christ! Then, each one of you is a new creation in Christ. And, everything will become new.
Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:17, thus, says: "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!"
Put off your old clothes and put on the new clothes of Christ! Then, each one of you is a new creation in Christ. And, everything will become new.
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