Teaching One Another

“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.” (Colossians 3:12-15 ESV)

Now, whenever we read any passages like this in the Scriptures we must be careful that we don’t interpret them in light of the world and worldly thinking and human and fleshly definitions of these words. For how the world and the flesh would see this, perhaps, may be completely different from what God intended when he had Paul write these words to the church in Colossae. 

For example, many people tell what they call “white lies” to people, thinking they are being “kind” to them. But lies are never kind. Lies are not of God. And, on the same frame of thinking, many people believe that being compassionate involves overlooking habitual sin and sympathizing with people in their sin rather than showing them the way out of their sin so that they can live in freedom from slavery to sin. The latter is true compassion.

For when Jesus Christ had compassion on the people of the world because of their sins, he did not console them in their sin to make them feel better. He put himself on that cross to put our sins to death with him so that, by God-persuaded faith in him we might die to sin and now walk in obedience to his commands, free from our bondage to sin. And we need to show that same compassion by putting our lives on the line to help others to freedom.

And meekness is not weakness. It is not us saying what we know people will want to hear to make them feel good and so that they will like us and not reject us. Meekness expresses power but with reserve (not compromise, not backing down on what is essential). It should still engage speaking the truth in love to others but in a way that is not overly harsh, at least not more harsh than what the Scriptures are themselves. 

But we might want to recall that the Scriptures teach that Jesus was meek, but he definitely was not weak, and he definitely never soft-pedaled the truth in order to make people feel good. He spoke the truth boldly and strongly, and he called sin what it is, and he called out sinners for their sin, and he called them to repentance and to obedience to God, and he warned them about continuing in sin, that they would not have eternal life with him.

And the love that we are to put on is not human love. It is agape love which centers in moral preference, and which prefers what God prefers, which is all that is holy, righteous, godly, upright, morally pure, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord and to his commandments (New Covenant). When we love with this love we prefer to live through Christ, choosing his choices, and obeying them in his power. So we will not willfully sin against others.

“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. 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.” (Colossians 3:16-17 ESV)

As those who are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives, we are also to be those who let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. And the only way that we can do this is by being students of the Scriptures who study them in context, and who listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit teaching us what we need to learn and to obey. And then we need to be those who are putting the word of God into practice in our daily lives.

Then, if we are following our Lord in obedience to his commands, and if we are living the life that he died to give us, free from slavery to sin, then we should be sharing with others the truth of the gospel as Jesus taught it and as his NT apostles taught it, and not as so many are teaching it today by altering the message to make it more acceptable to human flesh. And we should be teaching and admonishing one another to live holy lives to God.

For Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and now live for him and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living. Our lives should no longer be our own to live them however we want, but our lives should be ruled by God, and we should be living in submission to his will and purpose for our lives. For if we continue living in sin, and not in walks of obedience to our Lord, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

Teach Them  

An Original Work / May 24, 2012

Based off various scriptures

Open up the blinded eyes of

Those who walk in sin’s darkness.

Turn them to the light of Christ

And to His righteousness.

Turn them from the pow’r of Satan.

Turn them to the peace of Christ,

So they may receive forgiveness

And eternal life. 

Teach them to put off their old selves

And their former way of life,

And to put on their new self,

Reborn to be like Christ;

To not copy worldly customs;

Be transformed in life and mind;

Obey freely His word in them,

Pleasing unto God.

Teach them how to love their neighbors

Truly as they love themselves;

Be a witness; share the gospel;

Satan’s lies dispel;

Comfort all who mourn in sadness;

Share Christ’s love and joy today.

Do this through your life and witness

For your Lord always. 

https://vimeo.com/125485489