Day 3 — Put Off And Put On
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, I have been raised with Christ and my life is hidden with him in you. Expose the old patterns I must put to death and show me the beautiful character of Jesus that you are forming in me. Clothe me in love by your Spirit. Amen.
Headline
Because we have been raised with Christ, we put to death the old patterns of life and clothe ourselves with his character.
Colossians 3:1-14
3 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self,which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Comment
Yesterday, we saw that Christian growth is neither self-reliance nor passivity: we work out our salvation because God is already at work in us. But what does that look like in daily life? Today Paul gives grace-enabled effort a practical shape: because we have died and been raised with Christ, we put off the habits of the old life and put on the character of the new.
Paul’s instructions are demanding: “put to death” (v.5), “rid yourselves” (v.8), “do not lie” (v.9), “clothe yourselves (v.12)” Yet every command rests upon a reality God has already created. “You have been raised with Christ” (v.1). Your life is “hidden with Christ in God” (v.3). You are “God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved” (v.12). We put off the old life not to become loved, but because in Christ we already are.
This produces a double movement: put off and put on. The first list includes sexual sin, distorted desire and greed; the second: anger, malice, slander, abusive speech and lies. Sin is not merely a collection of isolated rule-breaking moments. These practices belong to an “old self” – a way of life with characteristic desires, reflexes and relationships.
The language of vice helps us see this. DeYoung (in Glittering Vices) explains that repeated actions carve paths into our character until they feel natural. We do not only do envious, proud or angry things; through repetition we become people disposed to respond in those ways. The seven are “capital” vices because they are fountainheads from which many other sins flow.
But Christianity offers more than removal of bad behaviour. An empty wardrobe is not the goal. Paul turns to the character with which we are to be clothed: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness and, over them all, love. Virtue is not colourless niceness. Virtue is the beautiful, strong and practical character of Christ taking shape in his people.
Notice how relational the passage is. Anger becomes slander; lies fracture trust; forgiveness answers grievance; love binds the community together. Vice curves us inward and damages our neighbours. Virtue frees us to love God and others well. We practise Christlike character not as a private improvement project but as members of a new humanity in which Christ is all and is in all.
Putting off and putting on also belong together practically. It is rarely enough to say, “I must stop being impatient.” We need to practise the positive alternative: listening without interrupting, bearing with weakness, speaking gently, forgiving as the Lord forgave us. Grace trains new responses until, by the Spirit’s work, they increasingly fit who we are in Christ.
Why does God want me to hear this today? Perhaps because I have focused on suppressing a visible sin without asking what Christlike quality should replace it. God does not intend merely to make me less obviously bad. He is renewing me in the image of my Creator. Today I can put one old response to death and deliberately put on its gospel-shaped alternative, secure in knowing that I am chosen, holy and dearly loved.
Reflect
- Which description of your identity in verses 1–4 and 12 most strengthens you to pursue change?
- What old pattern in verses 5–9 are you most tempted to excuse rather than put to death?
- What quality in verses 12–14 would be its most fitting Christlike replacement?
Action
Complete this sentence: “When I am tempted to put on __________, I will instead practise __________.” Choose a specific situation likely today. For example: “When I am tempted to speak critically, I will instead name something for which I can thank God.”
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, you are my life. Thank you that in you I am chosen, holy and dearly loved. Help me put to death the desires and practices of my old self. Renew my mind and clothe me with your compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. As you have forgiven me, make me ready to forgive, and over everything clothe me with love. Amen.
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