If we are to have an intimate relationship with The Holy Spirit Of Christ Jesus and God The Father in Whom our spirits cry out ABBA (Daddy FATHER!) The Three Persons Of The Trinity! Of Almighty JEHOVAH
We are in partnership with God The Holy Spirit ! We must give Him room in our lives lest we grieve Him and also priority to speak to us and lead and comfort us !
COLOSSIANS 3v8-10, 12-14.
Col 3:8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.
Col 3:9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.
Col 3:10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him.
We were created in His image!
Col 3:12 Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Col 3:13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
Col 3:14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.
3:8 Since they had been redeemed at such a tremendous cost, they should now put off all these things like a dirty garment.
Not only does the apostle refer to the various forms of unholy lust listed in verse 5, but also to the types of wicked hatred which he is about to enumerate.
Anger is, of course, a strong spirit of dislike or animosity, a vengeful spirit, a settled feeling of hatred. Wrath describes an intense form of anger, probably involving violent outbursts.
Malice is wicked conduct toward another with the idea of harming his person or reputation. It is an unreasonable dislike that takes pleasure in seeing others suffer. Blasphemy here means reviling, that is, strong, intemperate language used against another person. It means scolding in a harsh, insolent manner. Filthy language means shameful speaking, and describes that which is lewd, indecent, or corrupt.
It is disgraceful, impure language. In this catalog of sin the apostle goes from motives to acts. Bitterness starts in the human heart and then manifests itself in the various ways which have been described.
3:9 In verse 9 the apostle is saying in effect, “Let your state be consistent with your standing.”
You have put off the old man; now put him off practically by refraining from lies. Lying is one of the things that belongs to the old man, and it has no place in the life of the child of God. Every day in our lives we are tempted to distort the truth. It may be by withholding information on an income tax form, or by cheating on an examination, or even by exaggerating the details of a story. Lying becomes doubly serious when we injure another by a false statement, or by creating a false impression.
3:10 Not only have we put off the old man, but we have put on the new man, who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him. Just as the old man refers to all that we were as sons of Adam, with an unregenerate nature, so the new man refers to our new position as children of God. There has been a new creation, and we are new creatures. God's purpose is that this new man should always be growing more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ. We should never be satisfied with our present attainments, but should always press on to the goal of increasing conformity to the Savior. He is our example and the rule of our lives. In a coming day, when we stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, we will be judged not by how much better our lives were than others but rather by how our life measured up to the life of the Lord Jesus Himself.
The image of God is not seen in the shape of our bodies, but in the beauty of the renewed mind and heart. Holiness, love, humility, meekness, kindness, and forgiveness—these make up the divine character. (Daily Notes of the Scripture Union)
3:12 In verse 10, Paul said that we have put on the new man. Now he gives some practical ways in which this can be done in our everyday lives. First of all, he addresses the Colossians as the elect of God. This refers to the fact that they had been chosen by God in Christ before the foundation of the world. God's electing grace is one of the mysteries of divine revelation. We believe the Scripture clearly teaches that God, in His sovereignty, has chosen men to belong to Christ. We do not believe that God has ever chosen anyone to be damned. Such a teaching is directly contrary to Scripture. Just as we believe in God's electing grace, we also believe in man's responsibility. God does not save men against their will. The same Bible that says “elect according to the foreknowledge of God” also says “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Next Paul addresses the Colossians as holy and beloved. Holy means sanctified, or set apart (same word as “saints”) to God from the world. We are positionally holy, and we should be practically holy in our lives as well. Because we are the objects of God's love, it gives us a desire to please Him in every way.
Now Paul describes the Christian graces which we are to put on as a garment. Tender mercies speaks of a heart of compassion. Kindness speaks of the unselfish spirit of doing for others. It is an attitude of affection or goodwill. Humility means lowliness, the willingness to be humbled and to esteem others better than oneself. Meekness does not speak of weakness, but rather the strength to deny oneself and to walk in grace toward all men. Vine says:
The common assumption is that when a man is meek, it is because he cannot help himself; but the Lord was “meek” because He had the infinite resources of God at His command. Described negatively, meekness is the opposite to self-assertiveness and self-interest; it is equanimity of spirit that is neither elated nor cast down, simply because it is not occupied with self at all.
If humility is the “absence of pride,” then meekness is “the absence of passion.” Longsuffering speaks of patience under provocation and of the long endurance of offense. It combines joy and a kind attitude toward others, along with perseverance in suffering.
3:13 Bearing with one another describes the patience we should have with the failings and odd ways of our brethren. In living with others, it is inevitable that we will find out their failures. It often takes the grace of God for us to put up with the idiosyncrasies of others, as it must for them to put up with ours. But we must bear with one another. Forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another. There are few disputes among the people of God which could not be solved quickly if these injunctions were heeded. Forgiveness should be exercised toward others when they have offended. We often hear the complaint: “But he was the one who offended me. . . .” That is exactly the type of situation in which we are called upon to forgive. If the other person had not offended us, there would have been no need for forgiveness. If we had been the one who had committed the offense, then we should have gone and asked for pardon. Forbearance suggests our not taking offense; forgiveness—not holding it. There could scarcely be any greater incentive to forgiveness than is found in this verse: Even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. How did Christ forgive us? He forgave us without a cause. So should we. He forgave us freely. So should we. He forgave and He forgot. So should we. Both as to manner and extent, we should follow our blessed Lord in this wonderful attitude.
3:14 Love is here spoken of as the outer garment, or the belt, which binds all the other virtues together in order to make up perfection. It holds together in symmetry all parts of the Christian character. It is possible that a person might manifest some of the virtues above without really having love in his heart. And so Paul is emphasizing here that what we do must be done in a genuine spirit of love for our brethren. Our actions should not be grudging but should be born out of wholehearted affection. The Gnostics thought of knowledge as the bond of perfection, but Paul corrects this view by insisting that love is the bond of perfection.
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