Steven A. Bush - October 10, 2021
Put Off & Put On
Colossians 3:5-10 says: "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator." (ESV) Here and elsewhere the Apostle Paul, using the analogy of attire, instructs us with respect to how believers are expected to live. Once our minds and hearts and actions were shod with the ugliness of sin. But now, born anew in Christ, the calling upon our lives shifts to one of being renewed in mind and and transformed in heart. Our attire is therefore different, or should be, when it comes to our lives lived out in the here and now. Yes, our sins are paid for but the process of "putting off" our sinful ways continues even as we "put on" the likeness of Christ. As one pastor astutely said, "We are not sinless but hopefully we do sin less." And hopefully we appear like Jesus more and more. Help us, Lord, we pray!