“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
“[You’ve] been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt…[Hold] fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God…
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God…
“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you… You must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator…
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love.” Colossians 2:6-7,12-14,19; 3:1-3,5,8-10,12-14
For every therefore, there is a presupposition to drive the following statement. Paul is a master of reason and logic, and implements words cogently to make his points. You believe the gospel. You who were alien and hostile to Christ have been reconciled by His death. Therefore, because of your standing, just as you received Christ by grace and faith and trust in His sufficiency, so now walk. The Colossian church was not meant to forge ahead alone, nor in a vacuum. They were God’s to train and nurture, empower and refine and make fruitful. Don’t forget how you were saved! In this same way you are to thrive! (Colossians 1:3-5,21-22)
If we are saved, it is also by Christ’s grace, and we are to walk in Him by the enabling of that grace. Because we are established in faith and have been made new by His power, we are expected, by that faith and holy power, to display godly attitudes and actions in all we do. Because we’ve been forgiven, we forgive. As those reconciled, we are to reconcile. Since we’ve been set free from the old self and its proclivities, we are free to exercise the new self and serve and love as Christ does. (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 4:32)
Are we? Does our manner of character and living exhibit a strong link between what Christ has done and how we live? How distinctly are we living out the new self, displaying the image of our Creator? Where need we adjust our mindset, or choices? What habits, language, and practices do we need to put off, by act of will, and put on instead, by determination?
Lord, let me never stop marveling at all You have done for me, and will do through me as I yield, for Your glory.
As the rain and snow 