Last week we began a 3-week sermon series in Colossians 3 examining what the apostle Paul wrote to the Colossian church on what it means to be a new person. Last week we focused on verses 1 – 9 and we unpacked what it means to be a new person with a new mind-set who puts off the old person. This week we are going to focus on verses 10 – 14 and we are going to unpack what it means to be a new person who puts on the new person.

Look at Colossians 3:1 – 17…

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. 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.

So… a Christian is someone who is a new person with a new mind-set, who puts off the old person and puts on the new person who is filled with gratitude towards God. A new mind-set. Putting off the old person. Putting on the new person. A heart that overflows with gratitude towards God. This is the portrait the apostle Paul paints of what it means to be a Christian. This is what it means to be a new person in Christ Jesus.

When you walked in here today what was your mind, set on? Are you tired of pretending? Tired of performing? Tired of trying? Tired of failing? Tired of looking back over the years of your life and seeing little to no change at all? Tired of wondering what God wants from you? Tired of wondering if you’ll ever become the person you’ve dreamed of being all these years? When you walked in here today… Was your heart full of thanksgiving towards God for all that he is for you and all that he has done for you or are you struggling in these moments to just simply escape from the shackles of your old life and your old mind-set?

As we examine this passage today my prayer for us is that every one of us would encounter the Lord in such a way that we would catch a fresh revelation or a new picture of what it means to be made new in Christ Jesus. My prayer is that the Lord would give each and every one of us a new mind-set. My hope is that the Lord would help every one of us to put off the old person and to put on the new person in such a way that our hearts overflow into the activity of our lives with thankfulness towards God because of the work of Christ at the cross.

The message of the cross of Christ, the message of the gospel, is the centerpiece of the Christian life. It is at the cross of Christ that we are given a new mind-set. It is at the cross of Christ that our old nature is put to death. It is at the cross of Christ that we are given a new nature. It is at the cross of Christ that our hearts are filled with gratitude towards God because of his scandalous grace. The cross of Christ is the place where every one of us becomes a Christian and continues to be a Christian who is a new person with a new mind-set, who puts off the old person and puts on the new person. The cross of Christ is the place where every one of us becomes a Christian who is filled with gratitude towards God.

Verses 10 – 14: Paul Teaches Us That The New Person Puts On The New Person

I love getting something new. Shiny new objects are something we all love to get. The problem is that the shiny new things that grab our attention today become the old things we place on the shelf tomorrow for something newer and shinier. It’s the same way with the Christian life. It’s easy to get enamored with the newness of the Christian life at first and then put it on the shelf when it seems to have lost its luster or when the going gets rough. When this happens we inevitably return to old sinful pathways we’ve always walked; the old sinful lifestyles we’ve always lived; the old sinful practices we’ve always been trapped in. And when we return to the old person we used to be we sometimes believe it’s a shiny new person we’re becoming. But it shouldn’t be this way for the new person who’s been restored in Christ. This is why Paul transitions from instructions regarding the new person putting off the old person by killing sin and putting away sin and now moves into further instruction regarding how the new person puts on the new person by being renewed; by removing relational barriers; by resting in a new identity and by wearing new clothing.

The new person puts on the new person by being renewed… (10)

Paul says it’s time to put off the old person by killing sin and putting away sin because we “have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator.” This is a picture of the renewal that God brings into our lives when we believe the gospel and trust in Christ as our Savior and redeemer. In this renewal we are restored from the broken vessels we once were into the new creations that we now are. We are no longer that old person. We are renewed in Christ Jesus. God created us in his image and that image of God in us was shattered by the old person of sin that we used to be but when you and I come to trust in Christ the old person of sin is murdered at the cross of Christ and a new person is born and the image of God in us is restored and renewed. The new person puts on the new person by being renewed.

The new person puts on the new person by removing relational barriers… (11)

Paul says that as a new person who has been renewed in the image of our Creator we are now in a place where “there is not Greek and Jew (racial barriers), circumcised and uncircumcised (religious barriers), barbarian, Scythian (cultural barriers), slave, free (social barriers); but Christ is all, and in all.” There are no racial, religious, cultural or social barriers for those of us who have trusted in Christ because when Christ died on that cross he removed every relational barrier that could possibly be erected. Are you ignorant or hostile to racial reconciliation? Christ removed racial barriers. Are you consumed with religious differences? Christ removed religious barriers. Do you feel like you’re in a lower cultural or social class? Christ removed cultural and social barriers. The cross of Christ is the reconciler of all relational barriers whether they are racial, religious, cultural or social barriers. The cross of Christ is the reason and the way that the new person puts on the new person by removing relational barriers!

The new person puts on the new person by resting in a new identity… (12)

Paul says that we put on the new person by resting in our new identity “as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved.” This is our new identity. This is who we are. We are God’s possession, bought and paid for at the cross of Christ. We are chosen by God, despite our sinfulness. We are holy and set apart by God as his special and perfect prize. We are loved by God in Christ Jesus. We are no longer God’s enemies. We are now objects of his never-ending; inseparable; unexplainable; unconditional love. There is nothing in all of creation that can separate us from this new identity we have in Christ. There’s nothing that can change who we are and I’m convinced that if we as believers would meditate and rest in this identity more often then we would not trade in our new lives for the old life repackaged. This is why I say that the new person puts on the new person by resting in a new identity of being God’s possession; chosen despite our wandering; preserved as God’s special prize; and recipients of the Father’s lavish love through the cross of Christ. The new person puts on the new person by resting in a new identity!

The new person puts on the new person by wearing new clothing… (12-14)

So many people today connect their identity to their clothing. They feel valuable or superior based upon the kind of clothing they can or cannot afford to purchase and wear. But the reality is that our identity in Christ is set and sealed and therefore our identity (who we really are) should dictate the clothing we wear. The clothing we wear doesn’t dictate our identity. Instead, our identity dictates our clothing. This is why Paul instructs us as new people with new identities to “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 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. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” The new person puts on the new person by wearing new clothing in the company of one another in the community of the gospel. This passage is one of the great “one another’s” of the New Testament and the explicit instruction of this passage is that this new clothing cannot be worn apart from living in community with other believers. And I think its important to note that this clothing is not consumer clothing its contributor clothing. This clothing we wear in the context of gospel community isn’t centered around what we get out of the community its about what we are called and instructed to contribute to the community of the gospel. We are instructed here in this passage to wear new, Christ-like clothing in the context of gospel community.

We are instructed to put on the clothing of compassionate hearts instead of being indifferent to the needs of others. Kindness instead of being rude to one another. Humility instead of being proud of your accomplishments. Meekness instead of being harsh. Patience instead of expecting things to happen over night. Bearing with one another in the slow grind of gospel change instead of heaping unrealistic expectations upon one another. Forgiving each other instead of complaining about everyone else’s shortcomings and failures. This is the clothing that the Lord wears as he forgives you and I. Christ is forgiving. Christ doesn’t entertain complaints. Christ bears with you and I though we are slow to grow in the gospel. Christ is more patient with us than we will ever comprehend. Christ is meek yet firm and courageous. Christ’s humility is evidenced in the cross. Christ’s kindness towards us is beyond measure. Christ’s compassion towards us is without end.

And do you know what the belt is that holds all of this Christ-like clothing together? It’s the love of Christ that holds it all together. This is why Paul says that, “above all these things we must put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Without love there is nothing. No true compassion exists without God’s love. No true kindness exists without God’s love. No true humility exists without God’s love. No true meekness exists without God’s love. No true patience exists without God’s love. Without God’s love he would have never been patient with us in our sins and shortcomings. Without God’s love there would only be a long list of complaints against each and every one of us. Without God’s love there would be no forgiveness. God’s love binds everything together in perfect harmony. God’s love is the belt that ties everything together. The new person puts on the new person by wearing new clothing that is held together by Love.

Applying The Principle…

Are you a new person who is actively putting on the new person? Are you being renewed in the gospel daily? Have the relational barriers of racial, religious, cultural or social separation been removed from your life? Are you resting in your new identity as God’s chosen and perfect and loved, son or daughter? Are you wearing new gospel clothing in the context of Christian community? You and I both must be actively engaged in putting on the new person by being renewed; by removing relational barriers; by resting in a new identity and by wearing new clothing in the context of gospel community.

Final Observation…

Does this portrait of the new person describe you? Are you a new person that puts on the new person by being renewed; by removing relational barriers; by resting in a new identity and by wearing new clothing in the context of gospel community? Are you a new person in Christ Jesus?