More Like Jesus - Himalayan Heights – May 10 Readings: Colossians 3:9-11 – The New Life of Christ

 Colossians 3:1-17 A Primer in Christian Living

All Scripture is God-breathed and useful, but there are some Scriptures that we can consider the Himalayan mountaintops of the Bible. In the next few months, we will be looking at a series of great texts that inspire and move us - the "Himalayan Heights" of God's Word.

Today's Reading:  Colossians 3:1-17

Colossians 3:1-17 is a step by step guide to Christian living. It is a series of 12 commands, each of which builds on the previous one, laying out how we should live as followers of Jesus Christ. Each day, read the entire 17 verses, then meditate on the verse or verses that are the focus passage.

Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator. 11 In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all.

NOTES: There is no new command in this passage, but simply an explanation attached to the fifth command, "Do not lie." This highlights the fact that we have an old life that must be gone with its sinful practices so that we can put on the new things that are appropriate in the new life we have in Christ.

Through the Bible Readings: 2 Samuel 9-10, Luke 23:26–43, Psalm 59:7–13, Proverbs 12:21-22

If you wish to read through the Bible in a year, follow these readings. 

Devotional: More Like Jesus 

"I am saved by grace, not by works - how I live doesn't matter."
"We are not under the law anymore. I can do as I please."

Paul made it clear that these ideas, so common in Christianity, and others that accompany them, have no place in our lives. In Romans 6, he said, "God forbid" in response to ideas such as this. Here in Colossians 3:9, after giving the command not to lie, Paul laid out the contrast between the old life and the new. Narrowly, this applies to the command not to lie, but the same principle applies to all of our steps in transitioning from the old way of sin to the new way of righteousness.

In verses 9-11, Paul makes 4 simple statements about our lives as the redeemed. These are not commands, but statements of fact, of reality. This is how it is when you come to Christ. Certainly, sometimes we do not live up to the reality of our new life in Christ, but this is how it is, how it is meant to be.

First, Paul says in verse 9, "you have put off the old self with its practices." In 2 Corinthians 5 we were told "the old is gone, the new has come." We do not come to Christ for eternal life, then continue living as we did. We give everything to him and it changes. The old life is crucified with Christ and is gone. The New Testament Christians would be aghast at the idea of a person who is saved, but not radically, completely, and permanently changed. The old life is gone when your new starts and the practices that were part of that life are not part of the new life.

Second, Paul says we have put on a new self. This is not a series of rules or doctrines, it is Jesus. We are clothed in Christ and in the righteousness of Christ. God takes away our old life and replaces it with the life of Jesus. We are in Christ and are being conformed to become like Jesus.

That is the third truth established here, in verse 10, that we are living a life in which our goal is to be renewed and become like Christ. My goal is no longer to just have fun or to get ahead or to gain wealth. My goal now is to become like Jesus Christ. In every action, in every choice, in every situation, I must ask myself, "how can I become more like Jesus in this?" That will radically change the way I live my life.

• When things are hard, I don't complain, but seek to be more like Jesus. 
• When people annoy, aggravate, or even persecute me, I ask the Father to conform me to Christ. 
• When I don't have all I need, I must not complain, but instead seek ways to bcome more like my Savior in this challenge. 

Finally, we realize that in this process of becoming like Christ, all human divisions become nothing. The sad truth is that the church of Jesus Christ has been divided racially, economically, and socially throughout the years. This ought never to be. An American Christian who is seeking to be conformed to Christ has more in common with other believers from Iraq or China or Africa or anywhere else on earth than with non-believing Americans. Too often, we focus on earthly things, even in the church.

Being a Christian racist is an oxymoron. You cannot love Jesus Christ and disdain people of other nations and languages - it offends the God who created them. Few things are as inimical to the gospel work of the church as prejudice. In Christ, we are one, because "Christ is all and in all."

Father, I pray that you will make me more like Jesus today, removing the old ways of sin and making think and act more and more like my Savior. 

Think and Pray:

Are you living your life daily in an intentional effort to become more like Jesus Christ?
How has your life changed since Jesus saved you?