Putting on the Gospel: A Devotion From Colossians 3:12-17 (2024)

Read Colossians 3:12-17

12 Therefore, God's chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13 accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must forgive. 14 Above all, put on love-the perfect bond of unity. 15 And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful. 16 Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

I attended a denominational meeting a few years back at which the person facilitating a discussion time asked the following question to a group of pastors: "What would you tell someone who approached you asking how to become saved?" The responses in the room were many, but the one that was most prevalent was "The Gospel!" When we as Christians talk about "the Gospel," we are usually referring to the message of the coming, living, dying, and rising of Jesus Christ, which is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16). However, this message-the good news-has definite implications for all of life.

To be sure, Colossians 3:12-17 is a positive parallel to the negative exhortations of the first half of the chapter. However, it stands alone as a very practical and helpful encouragement for the application of the Gospel to all of life, and therefore to technology ministry as well. Paul has just finished establishing the fact that the community formed by and in Christ is not divided along ethnic, societal, or any other boundary-our identity is in Christ as part of His church. After reminding us that this passage is paralleling the 11 verses which precede it, Paul begins by describing those whom he is addressing as "God's chosen ones" and "holy and loved." The significance of this is great. He is not speaking to the unsaved or to those whose desire should be anything less that complete surrender to Christ. They, the church at Colossae, and us, the believing reader today have been the object of God's great love as evidenced by Christ's work of salvation.

At this point in verse 12, Paul simply begins describing attributes that are to be fruit of the gospel in our lives as believers. Heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience are to characterize our lives. Notice, however, that building on the idea of putting off the old man and putting on the new man from verses nine and 10, Paul says to "put on" these things. Certainly this requires intention, such as putting on clothing requires a person's intention. Even further, amidst a context where preparations for church services must happen every week, for the church technical servant, this requires devotion-a true sense that time with God and in His Word must both come before and be the motivation and clothing for all of the technical, pastoral, and creative elements to our jobs.

Verse 13 describes what this will actually look like in real life. The idea of accepting one another is not that we should not keep one another accountable and bear one another's burdens, but rather that we should love each other in such a way that reflects the love of Christ to the world outside. Specifically, this is tested when conflict arises. In Christian community and in technology ministry, conflict is a reality. Feelings are hurt, pride is offended, and what remains is truly whether we believe we are sinners desperately in need of forgiveness and saving. As Paul writes in the second half of the verse, we are to forgive because we have been forgiven.

In Verse 14 Paul says that we must, as the primary evidence that we are united in Christ, put on love. The number of passages in the New Testament exhorting, encouraging-even commanding us to love one another as part of the Church-is such that it is surely a familiar theme to any believer. However, it is especially helpful here within the "clothing that we put on" context of this passage, as love is expressed as something to cover all that we are and do.

Verses 15 and 16 contain the language of letting. In 15, we are to let the peace of the Messiah, which Paul again relates to our having been called to unity in the church, rule over the condition of our hearts. This is an interesting idea in that the peace of Christ is to be the decisive factor in our relationships with others and in our circ*mstances in general. In 15 we are to let the Gospel, "the message about the Messiah," inhabit our lives both individually and corporately as the church. We get the individual sense from what has come before and the corporate sense in what is spelled out after. As the Church, the Gospel is to richly characterize what we do and how we do it, and certainly this applies to our corporate worship services.

Given the personal nature of much of Paul's language throughout the passage, it seems helpful to remind ourselves that the Gospel has implications for the way we interact with our technology teams, music teams, facilities teams, leadership, and really everyone who is a part of the church. The temptation in the heat of the moment for us tech folks is to be so focused on preventing a distraction or quality lapse in our areas of responsibility, that we forsake Paul's command to love and to let "the peace of the Messiah" govern our interactions with one another. Surely these previous ideas find a general application in the concept of the Gospel dwelling richly among us.

Additionally, it would seem that there are implications for the structure, content, and feel of our corporate worship times. If the Gospel is to dwell richly among us, how do we facilitate this during these times? Certainly this is not a simple issue, and the issues of contextualization, culture, and overall Church vision are key elements to the discussion. However, one cannot escape the importance of doctrine, the Word of God, and corporate expressions of worship (music explicitly), which are mentioned in this rare and small window into the worship of the very early church.

Verse 17 represents a culmination of the entire chapter and is one of those verses of Scripture that has such broad application that it is well worth taking the time to meditate upon and memorize. Essentially, in all things, we are to give glory to God in the name of Jesus Christ with a spirit of thankfulness for who He is and what He has done.

Application Point 1: The Gospel is more than that which saves; it is also that which changes!

Application Point 2: The Gospel has implications in all of life-in our relationships, our decisions, and the way we lead and serve the church.

Application Point 3: We are to put on the Gospel as we do clothing, through regular and rich times with God and in His Word.

Application Point 4: We are to facilitate the rich dwelling of the Gospel among us as the church both relationally and structurally.

Group Discussion Question 1: What are some ways in which the Gospel dwells richly among us in our Church life?

Group Discussion Question 2: What are some ways in which the Gospel might be made to dwell more richly among us?