Prior to the words following are godly words of counsel in Colossians 3 to those of genuine faith in Jesus Christ, who have died with Christ to sin, and who have been raised with him to walk in newness of life in him. The counsel is to seek after and to set our minds on the things of God and of his righteousness, and not on earthly things. We are also counseled to put to death all that is earthly in ourselves – sexual immorality, impurity, improper passion, evil desire, and idolatry, etc. For these are to be the kinds of things in which we once (past tense) walked (in practice), but we are to put them all away.
“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)
So, you see here that faith in Jesus Christ which is genuine should result in us dying with Christ to sin, not just once, but daily (in practice), and us following our Lord in obedience to his commands in holy living. It should result in us putting out of our lives all that is not of God but is worldly and sinful and us putting on Christ and his righteousness and holiness in purity of devotion to our Lord in righteous living. For Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our slavery to sin so that we can, by the grace of God, now serve God with our lives.
[Matt 5:27-30; Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 3:5-11; 1 Thes 4:1-8; 1 Tim 4:7; Titus 2:11-14; Heb 12:1-17; 1 Pet 1:14; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
So, we are to be compassionate to others as God is compassionate (full of grace) with us. And God’s grace sent Jesus Christ to the cross to die and to take upon himself the sins of the entire world, putting them to death with him, so that by faith in him we can now die to sin and live to God and to his righteousness. And Jesus and many of his followers died giving us the truth of the gospel which can save our souls from hell, and so we can have eternal life with God. And that grace teaches us to renounce ungodliness and fleshly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this life.
So this kind of compassion is not going to coddle people in their sins or lie to them to make them feel good about themselves while they are still walking in sin. We should hurt for those who are going through difficult times, and for those who are trapped in sin’s deceitfulness, but that should then drive us to tell people the truth of the gospel and the truth about who God really is so that they can be delivered from their sinful addictions and so that they can find genuine biblical comfort in the promises of God which are intended for those who are following the Lord in walks of obedience to his commands.
I see so many memes (short messages in one picture) on social media which are lying to the people all the time, promising them what God did not promise them. And they do this via taking Scriptures out of their context and then applying them generally to all people, or to all professers of faith in Jesus Christ where they do not apply, and sometimes saying, “God said,” when God did not say. It sounds good. And they put a Scripture reference sometimes to at least part of it, so it appears to be truth, but it is twisted truth, and thus lies which give people false hopes and false comforts.
So, in all of these “put ons” listed for us here, we must make certain that they are understood in a true biblical context as to what those words really mean. For it is not grace, and it is not mercy if we lie to people or if we withhold from them the truth they need to hear because we want to make them feel good so that they will like us and so that they will think that we are “nice.” For it is never kind to lie to anyone. You can disguise it as kind, but it is not kind. And “love” is “agape love” which prefers all that is holy, righteous, godly, upright, morally pure, faithful and honest (no lies).
Sadly, so many people are teaching this all backwards and so they are teaching tolerance of sinful practices within the gatherings of the church, calling it “compassion.” But it is not compassion, but hate, if we lie to people and tell them that God is okay with them continuing to live in sin and that God’s grace covers it all. It is not kind if we give people a diluted and altered gospel message which lies to them and which promises them heaven as their eternal home but while they are still living to please the flesh and not God. And forgiveness is not giving others carte blanche to continue living in sin.
Anyway, Jesus Christ is our model to teach us what it means to have compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, etc. But we need to learn Jesus Christ via the Scriptures taught in context and not via movies and TV shows and cartoons and some preachers’ sermons which mischaracterize who Jesus was and is. For Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God. Many who profess him will hear him say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness” (Matt 7:21-23).
“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)
So, it is important that if we are going to try to comfort others with the comfort and encouragement that we have received from God that we are doing so according to what the Scriptures teach (in context), and with regard to whom they apply (in context). So many of these social media memes sound good, and they are comforting, but they are lies. For so many of them are teaching the Scriptures out of context and they are giving people false promises and false hopes. So please make it your practice to test everything and make sure it is truth before you tell people lies.
For Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
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