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Putting Off, Putting On
Read Colossians 3:1–10. As you do, realize that in verse 10, the verb to put on is from the same verb, to be clothed, that appeared in the previous verses we have studied. With that in mind, what are these texts saying to us?
Scholars see in these verses, as in some of the other ones we’ve looked at, references to the idea of baptism. (Where in the texts do you see a hint of that?) In no uncertain terms, we are shown again the idea of renewal, of regeneration, of something made better than it was before. In Christ we are no longer the same people we once were, living as we once did. Here, too, Paul is very clear in linking what we experience of Christ now with what we will experience when He returns. Indeed, how we respond to Christ’s first coming will decide what happens to us at His second coming!
Read Ephesians 4:22–24 (yes, the Greek verb in verse 24 is to clothe). What point is Paul stressing here, as well?
Notice the contrast between the “old man” and the “new man.” In principle, the “old man,” the former self, has died (symbolized by baptism), and a “new man,” a new creation in Christ, results. Here, too, the idea of being “clothed,” either in Christ or in the “new man,” arises in the context of Christian behavior. Read the verses that come before and after. We are dealing with a transformation of character, of actions, of a person’s whole moral being. This motif, this idea, keeps recurring. As baptized Christians, we are new people in the Lord; to be “clothed” in Christ isn’t a metaphor just for justification, for Christ’s righteousness covering our sins and giving us a new legal standing before God. Being clothed in Christ means being a new person, one “created in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph. 4:24).
Go back over the verses for today, looking at specific commands regarding behavior. In what areas do you need change? If you are struggling, why not seek out someone you can trust and ask for help in how you can better live out the principles taught in Scripture?
| TUESDAY | June 21 |
Read Colossians 3:1–10. As you do, realize that in verse 10, the verb to put on is from the same verb, to be clothed, that appeared in the previous verses we have studied. With that in mind, what are these texts saying to us?
Scholars see in these verses, as in some of the other ones we’ve looked at, references to the idea of baptism. (Where in the texts do you see a hint of that?) In no uncertain terms, we are shown again the idea of renewal, of regeneration, of something made better than it was before. In Christ we are no longer the same people we once were, living as we once did. Here, too, Paul is very clear in linking what we experience of Christ now with what we will experience when He returns. Indeed, how we respond to Christ’s first coming will decide what happens to us at His second coming!
Read Ephesians 4:22–24 (yes, the Greek verb in verse 24 is to clothe). What point is Paul stressing here, as well?
Notice the contrast between the “old man” and the “new man.” In principle, the “old man,” the former self, has died (symbolized by baptism), and a “new man,” a new creation in Christ, results. Here, too, the idea of being “clothed,” either in Christ or in the “new man,” arises in the context of Christian behavior. Read the verses that come before and after. We are dealing with a transformation of character, of actions, of a person’s whole moral being. This motif, this idea, keeps recurring. As baptized Christians, we are new people in the Lord; to be “clothed” in Christ isn’t a metaphor just for justification, for Christ’s righteousness covering our sins and giving us a new legal standing before God. Being clothed in Christ means being a new person, one “created in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph. 4:24).
Go back over the verses for today, looking at specific commands regarding behavior. In what areas do you need change? If you are struggling, why not seek out someone you can trust and ask for help in how you can better live out the principles taught in Scripture?
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