Colossians 3

Key Verse of Focus- Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

This is one of the verses that has caught my attention just in the last few months. This verse is more than just a verse. If I dig in and really study this verse, THIS VERSE IS THE CHRISTIAN LIFE!!! The more that I am in God’s word, the more that I take notice of verses and what they mean to my life. I keep reiterating this in my posts, because I used to struggle so much with Bible study. I could not stay consistent. Some days I still struggle. So if you struggle with staying consistent in Bible study, you are not alone. I think it requires each person to figure out what works for her/him as far as studying goes. Writing helps me study. I love connecting verses with other verses and ideas with other ideas. Writing about Bible verses and what they mean to my life, helps me to work through them, research them, and understand them. I can look at my life and see if I’m putting into practice what I am reading and then write about ways to better myself. And I figure if I’m struggling with something, then chances are, some of you are struggling with it as well. It really doesn’t matter how you study as long as you set aside time for it. And it really isn’t about quantity. It is about quality. One person might read the Bible for an hour and not be able to tell anything about what they have read and get nothing out of it. Another person might focus for 15 minutes on one verse and glean so much more. I started this post out by talking about personal Bible study, because as you will see as we go forward, we cannot do what Colossians 3:17 says for us to do without personal Bible study. So with all that being said, I have some questions for myself and for you, my friends.

Do I do what the verse above says? Is everything I say and do, said and done in the name of the Lord Jesus? And what does this actually mean? Also, can I live out this verse if I am not in God’s word on a regular basis?

To understand our key verse of focus we will need to look back at Colossians 3 as a whole. First of all, just a reminder, Paul is writing to the “saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse”. (Colossians 1:2) He is writing to all Christians, past and present. I am writing about these verses as if they are written to us today, because they absolutely are written to us today!! The first nine verses of Colossians 3 are focusing on putting off the old man of sin after we are raised with Christ. Paul starts this chapter by saying, “if then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above”. This is a direct correlation to baptism, because we are raised with Christ when we come up out of that watery grave of baptism. So if we are truly Christians, raised with Christ from the watery grave of baptism, then we have to put off our old person and put on the new person, that being the image of Christ. In Colossians 3:2, Paul encourages Christians to “set your minds on things above, not on things of the earth”. We are to be spiritually minded, not worldly minded. And then in Colossians 3:3, Paul really gets my attention. He says, “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God”. We died to our old life of sin when we were baptized into Christ and we rose to walk in “newness of life”. (Romans 6:4) This verse explains this beautifully, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life.” We left our old sinful self in the watery grave. Just thinking about how we are “hidden with Christ in God” makes me feel completely safe and secure. John 1:18 says that Christ is in “the bosom of the Father”. So that means we are with Christ in the bosom of the Father in complete security. This is so comforting!! However, Paul doesn’t sugarcoat things for the Christians at Colosse or for us today!! He makes it plain that in order for us to set our minds on things above, like verse 2 tells us, we have to put away a whole list of sinful practices found in verses 5, 8 and 9. These include, fornication, uncleanness, evil desires, covetousness, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language and dishonesty. These Christians at Colosse had “once walked” in these ways before putting them off. (Colossians 3:6) Some people were probably still hanging on to some of these sinful practices after baptism, and this may be why Paul was addressing this. We have to leave those worldly sinful practices behind after we become Christians. And we all struggle sometimes to keep our old sinful ways out of our lives. Sometimes they want to creep back into our lives. I know I have struggled with my own temptations. We all do in one way or another. But God made a way for us to be forgiven. He sent Jesus, His own Son. I’m so thankful every day to Him for loving all of us so much. If we are in Christ, we need only ask for forgiveness and His blood cleanses us immediately. Then of course, we try our best not to get caught up in sin again. However, when we stumble, God will take us back an infinite number of times. What an awesome God we serve!! So my Christian friends, according to the first eleven verses of Colossians 3, in order to do what verse 17, our key verse, tells us to do, we must put off the sinful man with all those sinful practices, and set our minds on things above “where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God”. (Colossians 3:1)

So what do we replace our old man with? What practices do we put in place after we are risen with Christ? What does Colossians 3:17 mean? Christian friends, it is only logical that we are to put off a whole list of sinful practices when we put off our sinful self. But……it is also logical that we should put on some new practices when we put on our new self, that being the image of Christ. After all, we are to be Christ-like now that we are Christians. We exchange the bad for the good. In Colossians 3:12, Paul calls us “the elect of God, holy and beloved”. This means we are chosen by God, set apart and dearly loved. When did we become the elect of God? We became the elect of God when God added us to His church after we chose to be baptized for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:47) Wow! Shouldn’t we be so honored that the Creator of the universe has chosen us? We should never take this for granted, my friends. Because we are the elect of God we are to “put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, and longsuffering”. (Colossians 3:12) These take the place of all the sinful practices we put off. But that is not all. We as a Christian family are to bear with one another and forgive one another as Christ forgave us. (Colossians 3:13) Forgiving others is not an option. The words Paul uses are strong. He says, “so you also MUST do”. (vs 13) This can be tough sometimes when someone does us wrong, but God does not expect us to do things that we are not capable of doing. He does not give us more than we can handle. (1 Corinthians 10:13) Therefore we can do it, even if it is hard.  Especially….. since we have the mind of Christ, which we do if we are in Him. (1 Corinthians 2:16) This brings up questions for us. Can we lose the mind of Christ? How do we lose it? How do we keep the mind of Christ? To answer these questions, yes we can lose the mind of Christ when we become unfaithful and when we become more a part of the world than of Christ, when we set our minds on things of the world instead of things above. We keep the mind of Christ by remaining faithful to Him and not forsaking the assembly for worship and bible study. (Hebrews 10:25) This is a command for all Christians. But that’s not all. Let’s go back to what I started this post with, we have to be in God’s word daily if we want to have the mind of Christ. Personal bible study is so important to our spiritual growth. It is also a command. Without it, we will be stagnant. (2 Timothy 2:15)  Studying God’s word will help us have the mind of Christ and then, in turn, help us to fulfill Colossians 3:17. 

So what is the one thing that Paul mentions that we have to “put on” that is above all of the others? It is love. Why is love above everything else? Because without love, none of the other words mean anything. Without love, there is no mercy, no kindness, no longsuffering, no forgiveness, or any other fruit of the spirit. This is probably why love is mentioned first among the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. Nothing we do matters without love. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 makes this idea very plain, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” Love is everything when it comes to being a Christian. We have to speak the truth to others in love. We have to love other people, the saved and the lost, so much that we are willing to tell them the truth even when it hurts. Would I rather them get mad at me for not just agreeing with them or them be lost for eternity? You’ve heard the term tough love? Paul says, “But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.” (Colossians 3:14) Love is the foundation for everything in the bible and do you know why? Because God is love. 1 John 4:8 says, “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” Also 1 John 4:16, “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” If God wasn’t pure love, we wouldn’t have Jesus. Love is the reason Jesus came to earth and died so that we can be saved if we choose to obey Him and live our life for Him. Paul calls love the “bond of perfection”. (vs 14) Love is what bonds we who are in the body of Christ, the church, together in perfection. Love makes it all complete. Love is the glue that holds everything else together. If God is love and Christ is love, then shouldn’t the church be love? No matter what good deeds we do in our congregation or personally in our own lives, they have to be done in love and humility. Not to be seen by men or to look better than someone else. This is not love. We are concerned with saving souls if we are doing things in love. This is our purpose and the reason we are the “elect of God”. (vs 12) Therefore, because we are truly in Christ, we can have peace from God. (Colossians 3:15) If we have put on Christ in baptism and we have put on love, we have nothing to worry about. Everything will fall into place in our Christian walk. Think about it. If we truly love others, then we will do all those things in verses 12 and 13. Love brings peace to our lives. It is the greatest feeling of peace to know that I am a child of God, that I am chosen by God, and that God wants me with Him. 

Verse 15 also says we are called in one body, which means one church, and for us to be thankful for that. I am so thankful that I am in that one body, the body of Christ, the church. This leads into Colossians 3:16 which is a super important verse concerning the church and worship. Because we are members of Christ’s body, the church, we are to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom. I need to know the Bible so well that it is in me and in everything I do. The word of God should “dwell in me” continually and “richly” or abundantly. How can this happen if I don’t dig into the Bible? The phrase “in all wisdom” means unto all wisdom. To have true wisdom, I have to dwell in God’s word. Since Colossians 3:16 may be a verse that I write more about in another post, I will be straightforward. It says we are to teach and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, and to sing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16) Where would the teaching and admonishing one another through singing be happening? Obviously, this would be in the assembly of the Lord’s church. We are, of course, singing praises to God, but we are also singing to teach and admonish one another. I love the word admonish. It means to put in mind, to caution, to reprove gently, or to warn. Isn’t this what the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs do for us if we are truly focusing on them?

So how does this chapter lead into our focus verse, Colossians 3:17? Everything that we do in our Christian lives from how we are saved to how we formally worship and even to how we go about our daily lives should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, with God in mind. Our repentance and baptism has to be in the name of the Lord. Acts 2:38 says, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” And repentance and baptism are only the beginning of our commitment. When we pray, we pray in Jesus’ name because He is our Savior and mediator. Everything we do in our worship to God has to be done in the name of the Lord Jesus. The prayers, the preaching of the Word, the Lord’s Supper, the singing of praises, and the giving of our means is to be done according to God’s word if it is to be done “in the name of the Lord”. If something we are doing in worship is not authorized in the Bible, then it can’t be “in the name of the Lord Jesus”. 

In our daily lives, we need to make decisions about what we get ourselves involved in and base those decisions on the name of Jesus Christ. Is this pleasing to God? Is this what God wants from me? Am I glorifying God? While we are here on earth, we have recreational/secular things that we enjoy, such as sports, music, vacations, concerts, exercising, art, cooking, movies, etc. We also have secular jobs in the world. It is perfectly fine to enjoy these activities, as long as they don’t become idols and interfere with our Christian walk. We have to guard against that at all times. If we are making good choices, then we can glorify God in whatever we are doing simply by how we conduct ourselves in every situation we are in and by how we treat other people. Of course, we need to make wise choices in our Christian walk about where we go. But we don’t have to completely hide ourselves away. The world needs to see us making the right choices wherever we go. The world needs to see us showing love to others and putting God first. The world needs to see Christ in us. We need to let our light shine!! We separate ourselves from sin, but let our light shine for the world. (Matthew 5:16) We are also to be thankful to God in everything we do and know that everything good in our lives, including all of our favorite places, our favorite activities, our hobbies, our talents……all of it comes from God. Everything fun that we enjoy has come about because God has given someone the ability to form the idea and create it. On a personal note, God allowed someone to come up with the sports of basketball and tennis and I am so thankful for that because I enjoy them so much!! I love certain genres of secular music that God gave man the talent to create!! God also created the beach, my favorite place to vacation!! God wants us to enjoy our lives in front of the world, so that they will want what we have……which is peace in Jesus. 

So, back to the questions we started out with:

Do I do what the verse above says? Is everything I say and do, said and done in the name of the Lord Jesus? And what does this actually mean? Also, can I live out this verse if I am not in God’s word on a regular basis?

Hopefully we can answer these questions with honesty and sincerity in our hearts. I soooo needed this study. Let’s look at Colossians 3:17 in a new way, my Christian friends, and let our words and actions be done in Jesus’ name for the world to see. Let’s show everyone how blessed we are!!

Hope everyone has an awesome Saturday, a wonderful Lord’s day and a great week ahead!! Thanks to everyone for reading my blog!! 

Friends, here is God’s plan of salvation for anyone who needs to hear it:

• We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 
• Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 
• Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 
• Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 
• Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) 
• God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)
• Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)