Before we begin I have a question. How do I look? Don't answer that. That's the name of a cable program that documents fashion interventions for people that have no fashion and they have no idea they have no fashion. If you were to receive an intervention on this program, friends and experts would tell you how they think you really look. You think you look great. They say you need a makeover. The purpose is to convert or to change you from an old you who's unattractive and self-deceived into a new you who's attractive and self-assured. The conversion requires the process of change. It begins with throwing out all your old clothes and all your old bad habits of how you attire yourself, introducing you to new clothes and new ways of dressing, and it ends with an introduction of the new you to your friends and family, to gasps of surprise and to squeals of joy, and only in one hour. Ain't it great? The transformations can be stunning, but will they last? Well, I think we all know from experience that change imposed on us from outside, no matter how good or wonderful it is, will not last. Jesus says that our thoughts, our words, and our deeds, they come from out of the heart. And no matter how many times we're told or forced to change how we think, how to speak, what we do, these changes cannot change our hearts. But if my heart is changed, converted from within, then the thoughts and the words and the actions that flow out of that heart will also change. And that's a change that will last. As we turn again in our Bibles to chapter 3 of Colossians, we're looking at a prescription for this kind of lasting change in the life of believers. A change in character that Paul portrays as a change in wardrobe. Now this prescription emphasizes the law, it emphasizes the will of God, the commands, the specific commands for how we're to start living. For how we can live in a way that's worthy of the Lord and that pleases Him in every way. But it also reminds us of the gospel. The gospel of what God has already done for us in Jesus Christ. The gospel that leads us to Jesus Christ through whom we're qualified to live this life more and more. In Christ, God has already made the new you. And this prescription is the way for you to grow in putting this new you on display. All that we're called to tonight is not how we become a new you. You are a new you in Jesus Christ. In Christ you are already beautiful. God's law calls you to be who you are and to show this beauty in your life. In verses 5 through 17, the saints who have been converted once and for all, they've been changed once and for all, are called to be converting day by day, making changes in our living. I want to read tonight verses 1 through 17. We'll be giving our attention to verses 12 through 14 as our text. Hear now the word of God, Colossians chapter 3, beginning in verse 1. Since then you have been raised with Christ. Set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these, anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with his practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom. And as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Here ends the reading of God's word. Well, last time, in verses 5 to 11, we were reminded that having been joined to Christ through faith, we have died with him once and for all. Therefore, in Christ, we have taken off our old self and his practices. The language here speaks of past tense accomplished. That which we inherited from Adam has been taken away. And we were reminded that having been changed on the inside, we are called to begin changing on the outside. Day by day, putting to death sin that's destructive to ourselves and putting off sin that's destructive toward others. Now we continue this evening with part two of this same message from verses 12 to 14 in particular. It continues through 17. But in 12 to 14, Paul shifts the emphasis of converting day by day to what we are to be putting on. And using the image of a wardrobe change, Paul tells us that Adam's sinful wardrobe has been removed from everyone who has died with Christ to the old man. In its place, God has provided the righteousness of Christ himself. It is imputed to us. It's credited to us. It's given to us because we have been raised with Christ in the new man. In the wardrobe analogy, we might say the closet's been cleared of the old and it's been refreshed with the new. And so day by day, we are to put on this new wardrobe. The idea is simple enough. The concept is simple enough. The call is clear enough. But that does not mean that obedience is easy, as we know. We must confess that even though the old is ugly, it's still more comfortable, it feels more natural, and it's certainly more familiar than the new. I know you all have a favorite pair of sneakers or a favorite pair of jeans that you've been told to get rid of. But we like it. It's comfortable. It's been taken from the closet. It's been taken from your wardrobe, but we like to stuff it in the drawers and leave it piled on the floor so that as we move around in life, it still clings to us and we still trip over it. Pictures that Paul uses in other places. And even though the new is beautiful, there's no denying it's beautiful, it is initially less comfortable. It's less natural. It's less familiar than the old. We have to remember to put it on. We have to exert ourselves to wear it. But with persistence and with effort over time, it becomes more comfortable. It becomes more familiar. It becomes more natural as we begin to fit into this new wardrobe. And over time, by God's grace, we become reluctant to slip back into the old. and when we do, we become quicker to repent and return to the new. This is the process of sanctification. This is the process by which we are being conformed to Christ. And this is what it means to be converting day by day, continually putting off the old and in its place, putting on the new. And we need to face a very important fact here. It's one or the other. We're always wearing one or the other. All too often, a little of both. But we need to know that there's no neutral wardrobe. In fact, there's no place for no wardrobe at all. We are always wearing something, either the old man or the new man. And as we start to put on this heavenly wardrobe, we discover that it has many layers. It's a layered look, kind of like the old man we took off last time. Let's take a look at this wardrobe from verse 12. here we have another one of paul's lists five things he lists that we are to be putting on at the core we're to put on compassion compassion that that visceral that inside feeling of concern at the distress of another i think it's safe to say we've all felt it at one time or more i think it's also safe to say we're not very active in cultivating compassion. But we're to cultivate compassion. We're to put on compassion. And that requires us to work at standing in somebody else's shoes and seeing their distress and their discomfort from their perspective. It's more than sympathy knowing about their problems. It's empathy relating to their problems. And having put on compassion, Paul goes on to say, we know the need to put on kindness. Kindness is what we do in response to this feeling It's one thing to feel another person's distress. It's another thing to act on that feeling to help alleviate that distress. Kindness is worn in showing mercy towards others, doing what we can to provide security or comfort for another. These two are very closely tied together because out of compassion grows this kindness. We think of Jesus feeding the multitudes in every account he was he says I have compassion on these people but he didn't walk away feeling badly for them he stopped and he fed them he showed them kindness and James warns against not putting these two together in James chapter 2 he says suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food if one of you says to him go I wish you well keep warm and well fed but does nothing about his physical needs what good is it Put on kindness. And to these we are to add humility. It's hard to be humble. Humility is not something that we can do in ourselves. It's something that happens to us when we remember things that are greater than ourselves. Humility is the virtue of considering others as better than yourself and yourself no more highly than you ought. considering others better than yourself and yourself no more highly than you ought. And so how do you come to this place of humility? Well, I think it's as simple as remembering two things. First, how great your own sin and misery are before a holy God. And secondly, how you've been set free from all that sin and misery by our Savior Jesus Christ. Apart from Christ, I stood no less condemned than any other sinner. I am the worst of sinners, and in Christ I stand no more exalted than any other saint. You too have been blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. So whether I choose to or try to measure myself against you by the old man or by the new man, I have no basis to consider myself in any way higher than you. That's humility. It comes from remembering our place. And having put on humility, we are prepared to put on gentleness, or better yet, meekness. Now, meekness is a virtue that's hard for us to understand today, just as it was in Paul's day. We're taught to respect the powerful and the self-assured, those who stand up to opposition and prevail. And we live with a caricature of meekness that it rolls over and plays dead when it's opposed. It crawls under a rock, it becomes a doormat, but that's not what meekness is. Meekness is something that doesn't work to prevail, but at the same time it's not weak and spineless. Meekness, when provoked, responds. It doesn't run away. When it's provoked by the sins of others against us or by the errors of others against the truth, we respond in meekness directly, but with gentleness that flows from the conviction that but for the grace of God there go I. It flows right out of humility. But meekness is the ability to respond with gentleness to that which provokes. And according to Galatians chapter 6 verse 1, we are to respond to sinners, not with punishment, not with a heavy hand. We're to go with efforts to restore them how? gently, lest we too be tempted. That's meekness. According to 2 Timothy chapter 2, we are to respond to those in error, not with a scolding, but with gentle instruction in the hope that God will grant them repentance, leading them to the knowledge of the truth. That's meekness. And finally, Paul says we must put on patience. Oh, how we hate that word. Patience. But patience is vital. Without patience, we will quickly give up on this new wardrobe change. We'll quickly give up putting on that which is unusual, uncomfortable, and demands some attention. But patience is what forbears. It suffers long when we are provoked or when we suffer an injustice or when we are frustrated in our efforts. And it does so without giving way to resentment or retaliation. It persists. in trial, in failures, in temptation. See, patience is, again, something that we can't work up in ourselves. Patience is something we put on because we remember where we are. Patience is that day-to-day response of waiting for the day when Christ will return and set all things right. That waits for the day when Christ, who is our life, will appear and rest in the promise that when He does, we too will appear with Him in glory. Patience looks for that day when we will wear this wardrobe exclusively and perfectly forever. It will be the most comfortable. It will be the most natural. It will be who we are. And only then will the church and all her saints be entirely pure and holy. Patience looks for that day and lives each day with that before us. And so, with these virtues on until that day, you and I are called to lifetime conversion. To the lifelong and demanding duty to be who you are already in Christ, putting on these virtues. To replace what we're putting off. But we need to know that we don't do this alone. And this is not an individualistic enterprise. Lifetime conversion belongs to the church, to the communion of the saints. It's a work that we participate in together. We struggle against sin together. We help one another to develop and put on these virtues. Within this community, waiting for that day, we need to know it's not a question of if saints will sin, but when. And it's not a question of if we will respond, but how. And so Paul continues in verse 13 to describe how putting on these virtues equips us to respond. Knowing that sin will continue. Knowing that we will be sinned against. The English Standard Version translates this relationship a little more clearly than the NIV. There we read in part, beginning in verse 12, put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other. The forbearing, or the bearing and the forgiving are describing characteristic ways that we respond. They're not new commands. They're not extra things to do. They're how we will respond when we are wearing these virtues. It's how these virtues express themselves when provoked by the sin of another saint. So clothed with the virtues of verse 12, we are equipped to respond in either of two ways to the sins of others. Two Christ-like ways that lead to reconciliation, that lead to restoration, that lead to the community of the saints being held together as one. There really is no other way for the new man to go, to respond to sin. There is no other way. The old man would have us do neither. And for the sake of peace and not rocking the boat, we do neither. And we frustrate the communion of the saints. So what are these two options for how we can respond to the sins of others against us as we wear and put on these virtues? Well, you are equipped to either cover them or to confront them. Cover or confront, that's our only two options. Let's take a look. First, we can cover them, responding by bearing with one another. To cover them means to put them in the ground so deep, so smoothly, there's no record that it ever happened. It's not even history. Bearing with one another is when we're confronted with an offense or something that might be an offense, we let it roll off our backs like water off a duck's back. We grant the most charitable interpretation we can to the events that have taken place. We assume no malice. We assume no intention to harm. And we chalk things up to such things as an error in judgment. It's just a bad call or a lack of attention. They were distracted. Or a lack of wisdom or maturity. They just need to grow. Or perhaps a misplaced response to some other stress in their life. And we respond trusting that in the power of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel, God is at work in that person and they are striving to put off the old man, they're striving to put on the new man and we wait on the Lord to have his work and his way in them. As the Apostle Peter said, love covers a multitude of sins. That's our first response. When we have compassionate hearts to know we're just as big a sinner as they, that we are extending them a kindness, that we're humble to know our place, We're patient with them. That's how it comes. We just cover it. If, however, there's a pattern of offense or we suspect malice and intent to do harm, then for the sake of the offender, a brother or sister in Christ who is evidently blind to this sin or hardened in this sin, for their sake we must confront. We can't cover it. And that's what Paul's talking about when he says when we have a complaint against another. That's something that we just can't let go. It's something we can't put away for their sake. And that requires us to confront them in order to forgive them, to restore them, to reconcile the body of Christ. And we're talking about real forgiveness here. We're not talking about ignoring it. We're not talking about excusing it. We're not talking about redefining it. We're not talking about anything other than sin is sin and I want to really forgive it. I want to put it behind both of us forever. And real forgiveness is costly business. It costs us dearly as the one who's been offended. For we choose to forgive as God forgave us and to bear the offense. And we promise the offender that we will not hold this sin against Him. That we will not turn others against Him because of it. And we will not let it alter our relationship in Christ moving forward. Those are promises we make. We heard this morning that those are promises we make giving up the right to equity, giving up the right to restitution, giving up the right. Well, having put on compassion and kindness and humility and gentleness and patience, we are able to go to them. Not only ready and able, but also wholeheartedly willing to grant these promises. Paul doesn't take any time here to tell us how this works. But we're not left to our own devices. Jesus himself told us how to do this. In Matthew chapter 18. He instructs you how to pursue this goal of forgiving one another. If your brother sins against you. If you can't cover it. How to approach him. So how do you begin? You go. You go. And you show him his fault just between the two of you. Now, most of us have a hard time with that step because we don't know what they're going to do. Well, there's only two things they can do. They can listen to you or they don't listen to you. And you're not in charge of that. If you're wearing this wardrobe and you go to them with this character, God's in charge of the response. So how might they respond? How might they respond? Well, they might listen to you. It happens. Really. And they might correct you for some misconceptions that you have and some wrong conclusions that you've drawn. And you get corrected. And you walk away reconciled. He might listen to you and recognize his sin. So that godly sorrow brings repentance and he repents before you. And you get to forgive Him. Just as God forgave you. Even if He sins against you seven times a day and seven times comes back to you and says, I repent, what's Jesus say? Forgive Him. In Christ, you are equipped for this. In His wardrobe, you're equipped for this. And you're even equipped if He doesn't listen to you. If He doesn't listen to you, you don't wash your hands and walk away and say, oh boy, that was really rough. I feel bad for Him. All these virtues help you see a brother or sister that needs redemption, that needs the Gospel, that needs relief. And so you don't quit. What's Jesus say to do in Matthew 18? you go back with one or two others. And you try it again. And if he refuses to listen to them, you tell it to the church. And if the church comes to him and he refuses to listen even to the church, then he is to be put out. Not cast out with a scarlet letter to never be spoken to again, but to be set apart as someone who still needs the gospel. needs the redemption that Christ alone can give. So every step of the way, even to that final step, we are equipped to go ready and willing and able to forgive and be reconciled. That's what these virtues do for us. That's what we are equipped to do in Christ. That's what we are to be putting on and pursuing. Paul goes one more step in verse 14 and addresses the place of love in our new wardrobe. He's most often understood to be calling for us to put on love like an outer robe, like a suit jacket that covers everything and binds it all together. That's how the NIV translates it. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. It's a good picture. It's a helpful picture. I'm not quite sure it's the right picture this understanding requires us to assume that the command to put on back in verse 12 carries over into verse 14 it may it may but that does not mean that it must and if we consider Paul's words here in verse 14 without that assumption he says If we consider these words without the command to put on, our perspective on the place of love shifts. It shifts from something else to be added over and above all these other virtues. To become and to be shown as the essential and driving force behind all of them. Love is not one more thing that we do. Love is what drives all that we do. So my own kind of stiff translation in agreement with others goes like this. Verse 14, above all, most importantly, have love, which is the bond of completeness. In other words, keep first things first. Keep love first. It binds the church together. It makes the communion of saints complete. When you have love, you will be motivated and enabled to put on these virtues because love in itself is these virtues. That's how Paul speaks of love in 1 Corinthians 13. Commonly called the love chapter. what's he say there? Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. In the language of our text, love is humble. It is not rude. It is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. In the language of our text, it forbears and forgives. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. It doesn't translate quite as clearly to compassion and gentleness, but they're not divorced from each other either. Having love in the community of the saints is of utmost importance, Paul says. Why? Because my conversion is not ultimately about what God is doing for me individually. But what God is doing through me for the church. And it's the same for you. Now this is hard for us to hear in our American individualistic culture. We like to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ as his good news for me. Me and Jesus. And it is that. But it's more than that. My conversion, what God is doing in me is ultimately for the good of His church. It's for my good too, but it's for the good of the church. And it's the same for every saint. Love. If you have love for the body of Christ, you have to have love for the body of Christ Because if you don't, no matter how hard you strive to put off the old man, no matter how hard you exert yourself to put on the new man, in the words of 1 Corinthians, if you have not love, you gain nothing. This is big business. These are tall orders. This is the law of God for us. In these few verses, 12 to 14, we've heard a call of God to do things, to put on things, to put on this new man. If that's all we had, it would be understandable if we felt defeated. We heard this this morning. When we consider all that we're called to do, it seems over the top. When we hear these commands, this law of God for us, we're reminded of how far short we fall. And how often we're just playing off duty. And if we respond to this law with a dependence upon ourselves alone for what it takes to keep this law, we'll be tempted to do one of two things. Either to deceive ourselves by reducing what God requires to a simple list of do's and don'ts. That's what the Colossian teachers were giving. Just do these things. God will be happy. Just do these things. And we'll deceive ourselves so that we can tell ourselves that we look pretty good. Doing pretty good. Or, if we don't reduce God's demands, we'll look at ourselves and we'll despair for our lack of progress. And we'll be tempted to give up and go back to our old ways. Why bother? The American church today is full of those. exiting the church, exiting the church because they're tired of trying so hard and getting nowhere. Because they're depending upon themselves. And Paul anticipates your temptation to believe that you must depend on your own resources by reminding you, even in these verses, of such stalwart demands. He reminds you that you are only being called to be who you are already in Christ. As we labor in converting day by day in obedience to God's law, we will find our motivation and our strength not in ourselves, but apart from ourselves in Jesus Christ whom we have believed through the Gospel. You see, you can more and more be who you are only when you are assured through faith in Christ that you have been converted once and for all. that you are joined to Christ. There's your strength. There's your purpose. And this brings us to our second and very brief point. In the midst of all this law, Paul brings the gospel to bear very briefly but very pointedly in verses 12 and 13. And he highlights four things that are already and eternally true for the saints who believe the gospel, who trust in Christ. These four things are already true. They're eternally true. And I want you to leave here tonight with these things ringing in your ears and resonating in your hearts as the encouragement you need, that I need to press on and be who you are. First, you are God's chosen people. The calling you have to put off the old man and to put on the new man is not a calling you have chosen for yourself. It's a calling for which you have been chosen. From out of all of humanity, you've been called to be given the grace to leave behind Adam and to put on Christ. Remember what you heard and believed in chapter 1, verse 12 of this letter. It is God who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of life. You're a chosen people. Second, you are holy. You are holy. God has chosen to set you apart for Himself and for His purposes. You already have a holy status. That's why He calls you saints. And more than that, He has chosen to work in you by His Holy Spirit to fully conform you, body and soul, to that status. This is where you're headed. Remember what you heard and believed from chapter 1, verses 21. to 23. Once you were alienated from God, but now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death. Why? To present you holy in his sight without blemish and free from accusation. You are holy. Third, you are dearly loved. Dearly loved. To all God's chosen people set apart to be holy, God loves you and He has a wonderful plan for your life. We've been considering the plan. Let's remember His love. Remember what you heard and believed from chapter 1, verse 13. God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves. He loves us in Jesus Christ. And in Christ, shows us his compassion, his kindness, his humility, his gentleness, his patience, his bearing with our sins, his forgiveness of our sins. You're beloved of God. And this brings us to the fourth and last reminder. You are forgiven. You are forgiven. Although the sins of the old man continue to cling to you and to trip you up, although you still revert to the comfortable ugliness of Adam and fail to put on the righteousness of Christ, those sins cannot undo God's choosing. They cannot revoke your sainthood. They cannot separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord and they cannot avoid the redemption Christ has accomplished once and for all. He is satisfied for these sins as well. Remember what you heard and believed from chapter 2, verses 13 and 14. When you were dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, even these. Having canceled the written code with all its regulations that was against us and stood opposed to us, He took it away, nailing it to the cross. That's the gospel that you need to know. And you need to depend on and is faithful because God has made it so. And so people of God, as you look at yourselves this evening, how do you look? Well, I'll tell you, in Christ, you look like the chosen, beloved, and forgiven saints that you are. So leave this place tonight, moving forward, and be who you are. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you that we have been reminded again tonight of your work for us in so many ways. That you've chosen us for your own good purposes. You've set us apart to be holy. You've loved us by the giving of your Son, Jesus Christ. And in Him have shown us all these attributes, all these virtues, that we as your people who have been redeemed from all of our sin are not only called to but equipped to put on. Help us, Lord, to be confident in your work in us. Help us to not draw back from exerting ourselves in these ways. Give us the confidence we need from the gospel of Jesus Christ to live this life and be who we are in Him. To the glory of your name, to the well-being of your church. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.