Tuesday, March 19th, 2024

Scripture: Col. 3:9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

Col. 3:10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him –

Teaching: Paul continues his teaching for believers to put off the old self and its ways and put on the new self in Christ. It is important for Christians to see themselves in the same light as God sees, and embrace the new creation that they are. When we persist in our sin and evil practices – living no differently from the world – we not only miss out on the fruits of the Spirit in our own lives but also cast doubt upon the One we say we are following! How we live and how we love is most often more impactful in witnessing for Christ than what we say. The world, who have eyes to see but do not, and ears to hear, but do not (Ezek. 12:2), by and large do not go to the Word to know Jesus. They most often form their opinion of Jesus based upon His followers. Paul here does not ask the Colossians, and us today, to slowly tolerate less and less sin in our lives; he says to lay aside the old self and its evil practices and put on the new self, with practices that he will describe in the next few verses.

He echoes Jesus’ words in John 14:15-17, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

Takeaway: When we come to faith and are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, we become new creations in the eyes of God; however, sometimes, we aren’t yet in our own eyes. In pursuing the Lord in prayer and study of His Word, we come to know more of who He is and what His heart is. This subsequently leads to conviction and repentance of sin. If we want to turn from our own sin nature, we cannot entertain it or give it footholds any longer. When we allow ourselves to continue living in the same dead ways that could not save us rather than in the ways of the Lord who did save us and gave us His Spirit to help us, our own witness to the Lord is undermined. No one is capable of living without sin, even after coming to faith; but that does not mean we shouldn’t fully pursue righteousness in Christ! Paul is saying here: remember whose you are, love what He loves, turn from what He hates, and follow in His ways not your own former ways. You are a new self.