Putting on the New Man, Part 2

Colossians 3:12-17

Colossians Chapter 3, Verse 9 to 17. We're looking at the subject of "Putting on the New Man." Now this is such a practical area of scripture. We're really not doing very fancy things with it. We're just going through it and taking each thing for its own merits and discussing it a little bit. We're not really attempting to sermonize it that much but simply to explain to you these very vital and basic principles of Christian living. The whole idea of the third chapter is that as a believer you have been given eternal life. That eternal life in this particular passage is called "resurrection life" or '(risen life." It says in 3:1 "You have been risen with Christ." It talks about the fact in Verse 3 that your life is hid with Christ in God. Verse 4, "Christ is our life." We have this eternal life, this risen, resurrected life. That kind of life demands a certain pattern of behavior and the pattern of behavior is given in Verse 5 through Verse 17 in general. Because we have risen life, because we have resurrection life, certain things should characterize us. Certain things are set aside. Certain things are taken up in our lives. Old garments are thrown away and new garments are taken on. That's the thrust of Verses 5 to 17. It's in a motif of putting clothes on. You're a new man. You throw away your old clothes and you put on new clothes identifying with that new man.

Chrissistum, who was the great early church father, said that the animals which went out of Noah's Ark went out the same way they went in. The crow came in a crow and went out a crow. The fox came in a fox and went out a fox. Chrissistum said the porcupine went in a porcupine and came out still armed with its living arrows. No change. But those who enter into Jesus Christ, who is the arc of salvation, go in one thing and come out something else, totally transformed. Chrissistum said this and I quote, "Like unto a spiteful fox that swindler entered the church who built his house on the ruin of his competitors, and behold he goes out more harmless than a lamb, willing to sacrifice his own interests for the sake of others. 'Like a crow that sinner entered the church. Now behold, he goes out cooing like a dove. That impatient, quarrelsome man who made everyone smart who touched him like a porcupine, came in bristling, and behold he goes away like a loving spaniel, gentle to touch." That's something about transformation, isn't it?

Conversion to Christ is a transformation. Conversion to Christ is a regeneration. It is a new life. We've been studying the basic truth of the Christian life, that dramatic inner miracle of new life. The transformation that we call Christian conversion. The dramatic inner miracle demands an equally dramatic outer change in lifestyle. We enter the arc of Christ in one form. We're transformed to another, and our behavior is to conform. Another way to illustrate this that I thought was very beautiful that I was reading this weekend is from an old book that had some information by Doctor A. J. Gordon, who may be known to you as the one who founded Gordon College and Seminary. It's now known as Gordon Conwell. In fact, one of the sons of our president attends that evangelical seminary in the east. This is what A. J. Gordon said, and I love this. He said: "I have seen in the autumn when the trees have shed their leaves that two or three leaves have stuck fast on the branches and have clung to them through all the storms of winter. But when the spring has come and the sap has begun to ascend, the leaves have disappeared, pushed off by the rising tide of new life." Great statement. And so it is in the Christian, that the dead leaves of the old life which hang on through all the winter storms of resolution and self‑reprimation are only pushed off by the rising tide of eternal life.

In First Peter, Chapter 2 and Verses 9 and 10, Peter puts it another way. "You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation of people of His own." That's your identity. "That you should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." "You used to be a no people, but you are now the people of God." He says at the end of Verse 9, "There should be a corresponding lifestyle change." God sees us as a new creation in Christ. The righteousness of Christ is applied to us, and now we must let the righteousness of Christ, we must let that new life fill us and push Of the dead old leaves of the former lifestyle that all of the resolutions and all of the self effort and all of the self‑reprimation could never get rid of. We have to put on the new clothes, the garments that clothe the new man. We've got to wear them.

Now what are they? Well, that's what we've been learning. We've been learning, in fact, that the first thing that the new man has to do in Verses 5 to 9 is take off the old clothes, to junk the old garments. We called it spiritual suicide, some things to kill in your life. Fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil desire, covetousness (which amounts to idolatry because you are seeking your own things instead of God) and so forth. You are to get rid of this stuff. You're to get rid of anger and wrath and malice and blasphemy and dirty talk and lies. So the first thing the new man does is junk some of the old stuff. The second thing, beginning in Verse 9 in the middle, is to start putting on the new things. He really gets into that in Verse 12. So what we're seeing here is that we're working out in our practice in a day to day living process the new patterns, the new lifestyle that connect up with the new man.

I want to compare a passage for a minute, Ephesians 4:17 if I may. We eluded to it last time but didn't really fully compare it. I want to show you something most interesting here. This is a little different figure. It's not the idea here of the clothes, but he uses a little different analogy. He says, "This I say therefore and testify in the Lord," in other words, since you are a new creation and since you are part of one body since you've been marvelously regenerated, "You are‑ not to walk as the gentiles or as the pagans. You are not to walk in the vanity of your mind." The Greek text leaves out that other gentiles statement and just says, "Don't walk in the vanity of your mind, having your understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God to the ignorance that is in them, being blind in their heart past feeling, giving themselves over to evil things, work, uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ." In other words, that stuff has got to go. You have learned another thing. "If so be that you have been heard in and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus that you put off concerning the former manner of life, the old man which is corrupt according to its deceitful lust and be renewed in the spirit of your mind." And you put on the new man. Now here he doesn't see it so much as clothes. He just says, "Since you are a new man, don't put on the old man any more."

You know, this is interesting. Years ago I did some study in some of the penology of the early Roman empire and I found out that there was a custom in some cases in some places that, when you murdered somebody the punishment was to strap the dead body of the victim to you. That was your punishment. Now it wouldn't take too long for that to have an affect on you. (Laughter) A very dramatic affect. It would decay you and rot you and kill you, and that was one way in which murderers were punished. Now Paul may have had that in his mind. Certainly it would be one way to illustrate it. He is saying, "If you are a new man, what is the sense in carrying around strapped to you the old dead body?" All it's going to do is corrupt you. "How much better to clothe yourself on the outside in lifestyle with the new man that you are in reality." That's essentially the same thing.

Now you can go back to Colossians 3. 1 just wanted to compare that passage. There he sees the clothes as the new man in a practical sense. Here he describes it in terms of the garments. It's the same thought. Some people get hung up on just exactly what the difference is. One is one analogy and the other is another. One maybe is an illustration related to the way they would treat a criminal. This one is just an illustration of putting on clothes. So when you come down to Verse 12 he says, "Put on therefore." That means to adopt a lifestyle consistent with your new life. Leave your old habits. Shed your dead leaves. Take that dead body off your back. All it's going to do is corrupt you. Throw away your stinking rotten garments from your former life.

Now as we look at Verses 5 to 17, we told you that there would be several areas of truth. We have already discussed three of them. Let me remind you. Point number one we saw as we looked at Verses 9 and following. Point number one ‑ we saw the position of the new man. Secondly as we looked at Verse 10 we saw the progress of the new man. He is renewed in knowledge. Thirdly and last time, we saw the partnership of the new man in Verse 11. He has an amazing new identity with all other believers, whatever they are ‑ Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, sinthian, bond or free, Christ is all and in all."

So we have seen the position of the new man. That's in Verse 9b and 10a where it just says he is a new man.‑ The progress of the new man, he's being renewed in knowledge, and the partnership of the new man, he's one with everybody else. Now fourthly tonight in our study, we come to the performance of the new man. We're getting away from what god has done for the new man and we're getting into what God expects the new man to do in response. Righteous behavior to match righteous position. Verse 12. Let's start right there. Here is the performance of the new man. "Put on therefore, as the elective God, holy and beloved, tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Forbearing one another or enduring one another and forgiving one another if any man ever quarrel against any even as Christ forgave you so also do ye."

Now stop there. Now he says, "This is the performance that is requested of the new man. This is to be the outward manifestation of the inward transformation. This is the lifestyle we are after. We are after a lifestyle that is characterized by tender mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forbearance and forgiveness. That's the kind of lifestyle God wants the believer to live. Now notice how he kind of sets you up there. "Put on therefore as the elect of God." That's a great statement. The elect of God, sovereignly selected by God.

Ephesians, Chapter 2 says that God has ordained us to good works. It simply says we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. We are saved to good works. We are saved to a life of positive emphasis that issues in consistency with our new nature. We are saved to issue a new lifestyle, a new pattern of living. You're not a Christian simply by your own choice. You're not a Christian simply by your own decision. You're a Christian because you're the elect of God chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, according to Ephesians Chapter 1. According to two passages in the Book of Revelation, your name was written in the Lamb's book of life before‑you were ever born. In fact, before anybody was ever born and in fact, before Creation was consummated. When God put down the foundation of the Earth, He had before that written our names in His book. Underlying then our response to God's grace is God's plan and God's initiative. And we willingly respond to that call.

So we are the chosen of God. This isn't a grab bag, ad lib, comme see, comme ca, Johnny‑come‑lately enterprise. Everybody who is in the body of Christ, everybody who has had this marvelous transformation, has been chosen by God before the world began to issue in a life of behavior that is consistent with that new identity. I don't know what that does to you but it lays on me the heavy thought that if I do not live such a life am in violation, not just of my own whim but in violation of the eternal plan of God set in motion before the world began. It's very critical for me to understand this truth. Now notice further. He says, "You are the elect of God," and then he makes a second statement, "Holy." That means separate, set apart. When God elected you He elected to draw you out of the mainstream of humankind. He elected to bring you to himself He elected to separate you that you might be different. That's why First Corinthians 1:2 says, "You are called agias. You are called holy ones. You are called separate ones. You are called saints. You are unique. You are different than the world, and if you don't act different then you have violated the very thing for which God has called you from before the foundation of the world. I mean, just get a thought on that. You're living in violation of the entire intention of God from before the world began.

So you're the elect of God and you're holy and then this kind of adds that dimension that's got to be there: you are beloved. And it isn't With God just a little plan that He has written out, "I'll take him and him and her and him and her and her." No. He loves you. There is something very intimate here. There's something very personal here. We're not just supposed to fill out the plan for the Almighty God, but there's a love relationship here that is to prompt us and to drive us. We are the objects of divine affection. Now I don't understand that. I don't know why God is so madly in love with me and not with somebody else. But I'm not going to fight it. I'm want to accept it by His grace.

Then I read in my Bible that God so loved whom? The whole world. The only reason that I am different is because I have responded to His grace. But that too is in His providence. That too is in His sovereignty. Now I want you to remember something that I think is important. Those three terms ‑ the elect of God, holy, and beloved ‑are three terms used in the Old Testament to describe Israel. There are three terms used in the Old Testament to describe Israel. Do you know what this is saying then? An incredible change is taking place in the economy of God. What once was true of one nation) is now true of all men who come to Christ. Israel is set aside in terms of its national uniqueness for this period of time. Temporarily, Romans 11 says. For ultimately the gifts and callings of God are without repentance. But those of us who are gentiles, who have come to Christ, we are the elect of God. We are the holy. We are the beloved. Therefore, on the basis of that put on a lifestyle that is consistent with such a calling. What kind of a lifestyle? Well, let's look at these principles. Incidentally, the words "put on" and "duno" means to put your clothes on or it mans to envelope in. It's the idea of just covering you up. Cover your life with these things. This is your external lifestyle. They are very specific.

Number one ‑ tender mercies. Literally in the Greek, and we get back to our discussion of a few months ago, it means "bowels of compassion." Do you remember our discussion about bowels? Yes, I know you remember. "Splanc na" in the Greek literally means "the bowels." In the Hebrew thinking it had to do with the organs around the middle part of your stomach area. The Hebrew mind always gave a very concrete, substantial reality to anything that was a sort of a Greek philosophical concept. For example, where the Hebrew might say "And I reasoned in my mind" the Jew would say "And I thought in my heart." Why? Because the Jew always related everything to an emotional response that was physical. We still do that a little bit. The Jew understood the bowels to be the seat of compassion, the seat of sympathy; because when trouble was going on he had a stomach ache. Because when he had a lot of anxiety it got to, his gut and he began to have problems there. Maybe he had an ulcer. They use the terms to refer to the womb and the stomach and the intestines and the kidney and the spleen and the liver and all the abdominal organs. The Hebrew always expressed an attitude or an emotion in physiological symptoms, and never in abstractions like the Greek. So when you see here "the bowels or mercy or compassion," he is simply talking about a compassionate person but he's doing it in a Hebrewism, even though it's written in the Greek language. Emotions are never expressed as abstract in scripture. They are always expressed in the lowest level of feeling, the physical feeling. Do you remember the Second Corinthians illustration? It says, "And his inward affection or his bowels, his deep feelings is more abundant toward you." There again they are talking about somebody's feelings from the standpoint of their physiological feelings. You remember that we said in the case of "Song of Solomon" when the lover heard his lover coming; he got a feeling in his stomach. We understand that.

In Philippians 1:8 "For God is my witness. How greatly I long after you in the bowels of Christ." That sounds so funny to us, because we come out of the western language orientation and we think it's strange. But when you think about it, when you have that longing and when you hurt for somebody's presence you feel it, don't you? You feel it physically. Psychologically it gets translated into your physiology. That's the way it's used again and again. Bowels respond to pain in the Bible. They respond to a sex stimulus. They respond to disaster, to fear, to need. By physical feeling they respond. So here in Colossians he is saying, "You need to have a deep, gut‑level feeling of compassion." Literally, "ouk promos." The idea of the word is simply sympathy, or mercy. It has the idea of sympathy or compassion.

Now in the ancient days, this was needed. You know what happened, for example, to sick people in those times? Do you know what happened to maimed people? Do you know what happened to people who got run over by an ox cart or people who lost a limb or people who got sick? They went out by the wall and just put their bodies there until they were dead. Everybody just walked around them. They would just die by the city wall and be hauled off. There was absolutely no provision for the aged. The treatment of the retarded and the simple‑minded was totally unfeeling. Here came Jesus Christ to a world that didn't know sympathy at all, to a Greek world where old people just went over by a wall until they were dead. Maimed people did the same thing. Little retarded children and idiots were set out to die. Jesus said, "I want you to have a gut‑feeling of sympathy and compassion." You see, that's a brand new ball game in that world. He was telling them something that was something new. The idea then, is a deep feeling that hurts over the concern for others and their needs. It's the very opposite of indifference. It's an aching kind of concern. I just struggle with that in my life because I have so much and I'm so far removed from any of that. It's something I really have to struggle with.    

Jesus had that. Jesus stood on a hillside and was so moved with compassion for people that He wept, didn't He? Jesus was so concerned about the poor that He fed them. He was so concerned about the sick that He healed them. Jesus loved those kinds of people. He had deep, painful feelings about the multitudes, about the poor, about the blind and crippled the deaf and sick, the orphaned and widows. He even told the church to take care of the orphans and widows. You people take care of your parents when they get old. This is a whole new thing. Sympathy is a gut feeling. A deep down pain. When you see somebody who is hurting. Christians ought to be the greatest philanthropists, the greatest helpers of the poor and the blind and the sick and the world.

The second thing to put on here is kindness. They kind of overlap, don't they? He says, "You know, if you're a Christian and you've got the new life and you're living the new life, one thing that ought to characterize you is kindness." Somebody said this: "Kindness is the virtue of a man whose neighbor's good is as dear to him as his own." That's a kind person. Jesus Used to say, "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for my yoke is easy." Jesus had about Him a kind of sweet goodness, and He offered that to men. Even in Titus 3 where the Apostle Paul is telling Titus, "Don't let anybody teach any false doctrine and make sure you take care of the church," and so forth, he says, "We ourselves also were once foolish, disobedient, deceiving, serving various lusts, pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another, but after the kindness and love of God our Savior toward men appears," bang! Transformation. Paul says that what changed his life was the kindness of Jesus Christ. Would you say the kindness of Jesus Christ could be described as the virtue of one whose neighbor's good was as dear to him as his own? Yes. Goodness and kindness. I think about the Good Samaritan, don't you? Bound up the wounds of that man who was an enemy and took him to the inn and spent all his money that the man might have a nice bed, cared for him.

The third thing is humility or humbleness of mind. I don't know if you ever have read about this, but did you know that among the Greeks there is no word in classical Greek for humility? There is none. Do you know why? They didn't believe in it. There was no such thing. There was no word for humility. We have a whole lot of different ones that appear in the Bible that we use to kind of get out the idea, but humility was something that a Greek despised. Pride was what he was after. Then here came Christianity and said, "Put on humility." Here came Jesus and said, "Be humble." This is the antidote to self‑love, and self‑love poisons all relationships. It always does. It always does! When you love yourself and you are self‑seeking and you desire things for yourself, whatever they are, whether they are at your job or in your family or in your church, wherever you are self‑seeking you will poison relationships with other people. Then it becomes difficult to talk about your Christianity.

Now this is the real thing here. This is real humility. You know, again this is characteristic of Jesus. Jesus had that tender mercy. Jesus had that kindness and Jesus also had this humility. You say, "Now wait a minute." Yes! Matthew 29, He said, "I am meek and lowly at heart." Didn't He? He condescended to be humble. Then that takes us to the next word. Again it is almost a synonym, because as I say, we kind of have to invent words here. Meekness. Now when we think of somebody who is meek like the proverbial Casper Milk toast who goes around saying, "Yes" to his wife and drinking milk and staying in his room when his wife tells him to and coming out when it's time to eat. This kind of person is a mealy‑mouth little character who wouldn't say "Peep" if he wasn't instructed to. It's sort of a spinelessness and we use "meek" in that way. Do you know what "meek" really means here? The rendering of the word means this: a willingness to suffer injury rather than inflict it. "If somebody is going to get hurt in this deal, let it be me. If somebody has to suffer here, let it be me." You can see the essence of humility in that, can't you? "If somebody has to lose, let it be me." Boy, there is a gentleness implied in that concept of meekness. You know, in Galatians 6:1 it says, and this is such a vital passage, especially in reference to what I said earlier about this young man, it says, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness considering yourself lest you also be tempted." Before you get too haughty, remember that you could be suffering from the same problem. You could be tempted in the same. You'd better consider yourself and make sure you've built your walls up.

In Second Timothy 2:25 Paul says to Timothy, "Foolish and unlearned questions avoid. Don't wrangle with people about stupid things. Avoid those things knowing that they breed strife. You just make enemies. And the servant of the Lord must not fight but be gentle to all men apt to teach, patient in meekness, instructing those who oppose it." Meekness. That sweet gentleness. This is the man, this is the woman, who knows he or she is a sinner among sinners. Gentleness. Then there is long suffering. That's a beautiful thought, too. Long suffering is patience. "Macro themia" in the Greek. It's a common word in the New Testament. It just means, "Here's somebody who never loses his patience with anybody." That would be a nice thought, wouldn't it?

Barclay says 'their foolishness and their teachability never drive it to cynicism or despair. Their insults and their ill treatment never drive it to bitterness or wrath." In other words, no matter how hard you are trying to be loving, no matter how hard you're trying to get your point across, they flack back at you and they shoot back at you and they interrupt you and they don't accept it and they don't listen, you never get angry. Did you know God is patient? If you don't know it, you ought to think about it. Look at your life and how you treated it, and mine. It's the opposite of resentment. It's the opposite of revenge. It's the long suffering man who never, ever, ever gets angry at all about other  people. You say, "What about you? You got mad." Yeah, I got mad at a system. I have every right to get mad at Satan. I have every right to get mad at a false teacher. I have every right to do that. But I need to be patient with the person whom you are instructing, unless that person is an apostate. Then you have every right to get angry. Jesus did that, if you'll check Him out with the Pharisees. He was a long suffering man. This was characteristic of Jesus Christ is First Timothy 1:16 ‑ "Nevertheless, for this cause I obtain mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long suffering." You know, Paul says "If you don't think that Jesus is patient, let me give my testimony. I ran around killing Christians and He loved me. He was patient with me." You see, this is the beautiful thing.

Now you ask yourself about these things. These are simple thoughts. Have you put on your new clothes? Is your life characterized by a very tender sense of compassion to people in need? Is mine? Is your life characterized by humility? A deep sense of true humility? Is your life characterized by meekness that says, "I'd rather suffer than have you suffer." Is your life characterized by kindness, so that somebody else's good is just as important to you as yours? Is your life characterized by patience? Well, I think it ought to be, don't you? After all, you are a new creature. You ought to get the clothes of the new man on. Then he adds a couple o