{"id":1629,"date":"2015-11-14T19:11:25","date_gmt":"2015-11-15T03:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/?p=1629"},"modified":"2015-11-14T19:12:38","modified_gmt":"2015-11-15T03:12:38","slug":"putting-on-the-new-self","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/?p=1629","title":{"rendered":"What does the New Life look like?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Putting on the New Self<\/h2>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Col 3:12-14<\/p>\n<p><strong><sup>12 <\/sup><\/strong><strong>So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; <sup>13<\/sup> bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. <sup>14<\/sup> Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The last few weeks we have examined the traits that the believer is to put to death or to put aside.\u00a0 The focus was upon those things that have no place in the life of believers.\u00a0 If you were to think of a parallel for such a change, you might picture someone who went from beggar to royalty.\u00a0 Don\u2019t imagine that you presently have all the privileges of royalty.\u00a0 I\u2019m not addressing that.\u00a0 Truth is that we won\u2019t have all those things until we have our redeemed lives. Remember who we really are is still hidden in Christ and will be revealed when His glory is revealed. \u00a0What I am attempting to describe is the change in behavior.\u00a0 Imagine someone who steals, lies, cheats, is immoral and is basically a poor example of what an evil mind can do if they put their mind to it.\u00a0 Then, in a moment, they are expected to change their behavior and begin to live as though they represent Someone much more important than their own individual desires.\u00a0 We went from trying to satisfy our own desires to trying to please the One who saved us from eternal death.\u00a0 Of course, we have been given the Holy Spirit to empower us to accomplish what is expected of us, but our goals and objectives in our lives have been radically altered.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We have been altered because we have been chosen.\u00a0 Stop thinking that you were living the right way, living above the crowd, being different than anyone else and that is why God reached out to you.\u00a0 When a person remembers that they have been chosen by God not because of merit but because of mercy it should create a humble attitude and not a prideful one.\u00a0 Let\u2019s look at this next list of terms that were used throughout the OT when the prophets wrote about the nation of Israel.\u00a0 Now Paul uses these three different, single words to describe the believer:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Chosen<\/strong> \u2013 also used \u201celect\u201d \u2013 there are several things about election.\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">First<\/span>: It shows the believer that his salvation is all of God.\u00a0 God did everything. The complete program begins and ends with God and is not the results of personal qualifications.\u00a0 Other verses tell us that we were chosen before the foundation of the earth (Eph).\u00a0 The end of this understanding of election or being chosen by God is that God should be praised, not the one who is chosen.\u00a0 Election should be a source to cause the believer to worship.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Second<\/span>: it is a source of assurance for the salvation of every believer.\u00a0 You see the more that you understand the character of God and His choosing of you, the more you realize it that His choice of you was and is completely mercy and grace.\u00a0 You are justified by grace and God is not about to let you go after He has covered all your sins with the blood of His Son.\u00a0 Nothing can cut you off from God\u2019s love in Christ (Rom 8:35-39).\u00a0 You can never be safer that you are right now because you are already as safe as you can possibly be.\u00a0 Nothing you can do or not do can loosen you from God\u2019s hands.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Third<\/span>: The principle of being chosen should encourage the believer to conduct themselves in a manner that is appropriate for a child of God.\u00a0 This is where the change in behavior comes into view.\u00a0 In another words, the grace of God\u2019s choice of us should prompt us to live like who we are, because we are the children of the King.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Holy<\/strong> \u2013 this word has gotten some pretty bad press in the recent years.\u00a0 The reasons are vast and varied but there are not many people who think that being Holy is a good thing.\u00a0 But maybe the 20<sup>th<\/sup> Century believer has been some of the reason for this. Holy is not another word for \u201cVery Very Serious about Everything.\u201d\u00a0 There is usually a sense of separation for things that are Holy.\u00a0 It is the Holiness of God that requires that He maintain distant from sinful man unless man has been redeemed.\u00a0 For believers, holiness is also separation, but not from the sinners of the world but rather from participation in the sins.\u00a0 We are to refrain from doing the same things that others do because we are separated for a specific purpose, holy.\u00a0 There is a verse in 2 Timothy that is quite direct about finding your purpose. 2 Timothy 2:20-21 &#8211; <strong><sup>20\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong><strong>Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>some to honor and some to dis\u00adhonor.<\/strong><strong><sup>21\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong><strong>Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>these<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong><em>things<\/em><\/strong><strong>, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.<\/strong> Holy is also a word for moral excellence, especially as it relates to God Himself.\u00a0 Since we are children of this God, we are to grow in our holiness too.\u00a0 We are to grow in our moral excellence.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dearly Loved<\/strong> &#8212; this seems to be a more personal word that relates to how Paul feels towards the church in Colossae.\u00a0\u00a0 He loved them with the love of pastor who loves his church, but in those days there was a more powerful sense of community than we probably know today.\u00a0 Many of you might have never visited or lived in an area where there were very few people from your country.\u00a0 I remember when we lived in Belgium and how significant different members of the American-Christian community were to us.\u00a0 We spent holidays together, we tried to encourage each other and we cried on the shoulders of each other.\u00a0 We were the only family each other had.\u00a0 In the early days of the church I can imagine that the bonds of fellowship were much stronger than we know them to be today.\u00a0 So there was a stronger sense of love and family in the early church, among church leaders and believers, than we know here in America.\u00a0 None the less, Paul expressed a very deep concern and affection for the believers there in Colossae.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Next, Paul gives a rapid fire list of things we are to put on because we know the Grace of God.\u00a0 I think that all of us would hope that we demonstrate these traits, but Paul tells us that they need to come from within, from the new heart that has been created in us to do the will of the Father.\u00a0 These things are all relationship oriented.\u00a0 Funny how some people believe they can practice their Christianity all alone?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Put on a heart \u2013 <\/strong>But this is the source for what is to follow.<\/li>\n<li><strong>of compassion, <\/strong>this is pity and tenderness expressed toward the suffering and miserable.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Kindness, &#8212; <\/strong>the ideas of goodness, kindliness and graciousness. Also defined as \u201csweetness of disposition\u201d.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Humility, &#8212; <\/strong>not always considered a virtue by the world, but this came to mean a humble disposition.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Gentleness and &#8212; <\/strong>this is also not held in high esteem by the world, but this is the opposite of arrogance and self-assertiveness. It is the mark of a person who has a delicate consideration for the rights and feelings of others.\u00a0 Also defined as a willingness to make concessions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Patience; &#8212; <\/strong>this is the concept of self-restraint that enables one to bear injury and insult without resorting to hasty retaliation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bearing with one another, and <\/strong>this one, and the next, seem to elaborate on the principle of living with patience with those around you.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>What do these things look like when they are in practice in the local church?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Then, for the final statement about these inter-personal relationships, Paul throws one final statement to the hearers of this letter:<strong> Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.\u00a0 <\/strong>The word for love in this verse is <em>agape<\/em>, which we are all familiar with.\u00a0 It is the kind of love that God shows towards believers.\u00a0 In fact, if you were asked what Christian love looks like, you could use the description that Paul has used above.\u00a0 The goal of the new person\u2019s behavior is brought out in this verse; Love is the perfect bond of unity.\u00a0 God tells us how to stay unified and it is through believers living as mentioned here in Colossians.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Putting on the New Self \u00a0 Col 3:12-14 12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":771,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[83],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1629"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1629"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1636,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1629\/revisions\/1636"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}