You Were Made to Be Clothed (Colossians 3:5-17).Sunday June 14, 2026
Intro:
“Therefore” – you are dead and alive (not dead or alive).
Being clothed is a part of humanity:
Every believer in Christ has be reborn to a son of God and has been given new clothes.
Gal 3:26-27 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Col 3:5-17 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, 7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 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 — 11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.
12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
1. God’s plan was always to clothe us with Christ.
When Adam and Eve ate the fruit they discovered they were naked.
When we wear the flesh alone, separate from God, we seek only to gratify the flesh. When we wear Christ over our bodies, in the sense the Scripture means, then our bodies are used to His glory – holiness.
Humanity is to be clothed. The next section in Colossians has a lot to say about it.
Col 3:8 But now you also, put them all aside: [apotithemi, always in the middle – set aside from yourself]
Col 3:9-10 you laid aside [different verb: to strip off clothes] the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self
Col 3:12 put on [enduo: clothe – middle (yourself) or passive (be clothed)] a heart of (there is a double layer of clothing with love as the outer garment)
In Genesis, God clothed the naked humans:
Gen 3:21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.
Our own attempts to clothe ourselves were a failure.
God had plans to clothe us with a garment that could never wear out, or even get dirty, not even wrinkled.
Col 1:21-22 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach
Eph 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.
Rev 19:7-8 "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Who would state that they themselves had accomplished any of these; had added a stitch to this clothing?
Col 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.
2. Christ’s clothing is inward and outward.
Col 3:5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
The sentence begins with the command to put to death the members of your earthly body.
Obviously the inner self is the culprit – so “consider” is added.
Together the death of these sins fall under the virtue of temperance: self-control; “I buffet my body and make it my slave” (1Co 9:27).
Pro 25:28 Like a city that is broken into and without walls Is a man who has no control over his spirit.
We are to put them to death. How? Knowledge of the word of God which says: They are the focus of the wrath of God (3:6) [In many churches today, the moral wrath of God is seldom preached]. You have put off the old man (3:9) and have put on the new man (3:10) which has been created in the image of Christ (truly a new birth).
Col 3:9-10 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 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 –
“laid aside” is a verb that means to take off clothes. “put on” is a verb that means to put on clothes.
The clothing of Christ must be first over the heart and then outward in the used of the body.
The body is clothing that reflects the heart.
3. Our clothing is emotional.
Col 3:12-14 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility (pride is lost), gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
My translation says “put on a heart” but the word is “bowels”. The reason for this is that in Greek splagchnon, meaning entrails or inward parts (including heart, lungs, liver, everything), was a common metaphor for love and affection as the inward parts were seen as the seat of emotions – as they are today; butterflies in your stomach, knot in your stomach, heart flutter.
Above all put on love: the outer garment that makes all the rest work beautifully. Our adornment is to be beautiful.
Psa 45:8 All Your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
Psa 45:11 Then the King will desire your beauty. Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him.
Psa 45:13-14 The King's daughter is all glorious within; Her clothing is interwoven with gold. 14 She will be led to the King in embroidered work;
The emotion of love, we know, can be a source of evil or good. We have to be careful not to oversimplify the “bowels”.
4. How do I put on the clothes I’ve been given?
Col 3:15-17 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
“Let the peace of Christ rule (umpire) in your hearts” = faith in what you know (resting in Him; faith-rest).
The peace of Christ is trust in those truths. The richly dwell word of Christ is increasing your knowledge about those truths. When struggling to take off any of those sins – go find in the Word of God the places that directly address it and learn more.
Psa 56:3 When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.
Conclusion:
God’s plan to clothe us was always to do so with His Son.
We have been made dead and alive with Him.
We are clothed with Christ forever.
Now that that’s settled, clothe yourself with Christ in your heart and in the function of your body:
Rom 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
We do this through faith in His Word and enriching ourselves with continued study of His Word.
The gift from Christ: the old garment torn off through death and the new garment put on through resurrection. |