As God's Chosen Ones

Colossians 3:12-15 ESV

“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. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.”

This is speaking to those who have been crucified and buried with Christ in death to sin, and who were raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness (see Colossians 3:1-4; Romans 6:1-23; Ephesians 4:17-24).

As those who have died with Christ to sin and who are now living to God and to his righteousness, we are chosen of God to live holy lives, pleasing to God. And to be holy is to be separate (unlike, different) from the world and from the ungodly because we are now, by the Spirit, being conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ in character and in deed.

Therefore, we are to be, in action and in conduct, those who have compassionate hearts and who show the kindness of God of God to others. But being compassionate and showing kindness is not going soft on sin, as many would have you believe. For this makes no compromises with sin and it does not placate nor comfort people in their sinful practices. For the kindness of God is his grace to us which trains us to say “No!” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s soon return (see Titus 2:11-14).

And humility is to have an honest and fair and just evaluation of ourselves, to neither think too highly nor too lowly of ourselves. It is the opposite of pride, so this is the opposite of vaunting ourselves for selfish purposes. And meekness is not weakness, for Jesus Christ was meek when he walked the earth, but he definitely was not weak. For he spoke the hard truths to the people that many did not want to hear, and many people deserted him and rejected him for it, too. And they eventually put him to death on a cross.

And bearing with one another is also not about placating and coddling people in their sins nor just ignoring their sins out of fear of offending them with the truth. It just means we are patient and we wait on God for him to act and to change people’s hearts but while we continue to do what Jesus did in speaking truth to their minds and ears and hearts, and being willing to forgive their offenses against us. But forgiveness is not permission to keep on sinning. It just leaves the exacting of punishment to God.

Above all we are to put on love. And the Greek word for love is agape, and it means to prefer what God prefers, which is what is righteous, holy, godly, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord. So if we are putting on love, that means we are walking in holiness and godliness and in honesty, moral purity, and faithfulness, etc. So that means we will not deliberately and habitually nor premeditatedly sin against others to do them harm, but we will do for them what is good and brings honor to God.

And the peace of God, of Christ, which is to rule our hearts, makes no compromises with the world and with sin so as not to “ruffle feathers,” and so as not to offend people. For this peace comes from living righteously in walks of obedience to our Lord and from no longer walking in sin, making sin our practice. So if the peace of God is ruling our hearts then we are walking now (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. And so we are living to please God with our lives.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

Songs in the Night  

An Original Work / December 18, 2013

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.

You, my Savior, I now adore.

Hope in heaven awaiting me,

Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,

And I’m bound for heaven.

Jesus set me free from

All my sin, I say.

I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:

Overcame death, my vict’ry won!

Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!

I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!

My sin is but hist’ry!

I am free to please Him

With my life today.

I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me

A new life bought at Calvary.

Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.

Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;

Through my Lord, I’m able

To sit at His table;

Fellowship with Him.

I will thank Him always!

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