Do This, Not That

So here are some things not to do and some things to do from Paul’s letter to the Colossians:

DON’T DO THIS: “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry…. rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.”

I like how Paul says “put to death” these traits.  In Romans 6:6, Paul put it even more gruesomely: “our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin”.  Not literally crucified, of course.  And to be honest, this is a concept I struggle with, because my old self is not dead.  I am still tempted and yes, sometimes I stumble.  I much more understand Romans 7:15, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

DO THIS: “as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

I like how Paul says to “clothe” ourselves in these traits.  I think he means we need to put on these attributes like clothing, as we might not normally look like that.  In doing so, we will begin to transform through the power of the Holy Spirit.  I am finding that, when I am losing patience with a person or a situation, praying to Jesus to be with me, to protect me, be within me and to uphold me, this truly helps me calm down and see the situation with his eyes.  

Does all this sound like works-based salvation, like we are not saved by Grace alone?  Paul wrote this in his letter to the Philippians: “...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”  Do you see the cooperative nature of the process of sanctification?  Faith is not passive.  Belief, in the Biblical sense, is not something you have, it is something you do.  

Jesus’ brother James wrote: “Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead (James 2:15-17).”