Pursuing Perfection: Part 1  

Colossians 3:8-14

Thank you for joining us as we study God’s Word together. No matter where you are or what you are going through, we are confident the Bible has good principles for you right where you are. The Holy Spirit through God’s Word can speak to and guide you, it is up to us to have a heart that is in tune with God and ears that are listening for Him. With his help, this will happen today as we study Colossians. 

Today’s lesson is “Pursuing Perfection.” This is the first of a two-part teaching. We are looking at Paul’s metaphor of “changing clothes” and applying that to our relationship with Jesus. Let’s go now with Bible teacher J Mark to Colossians 3.  

In 2019, people worldwide spent nearly 2 trillion dollars on clothing. Clothing is often used as a fashion statement, but also as a means of identification. Police officers, EMTs, firefighters, and military personnel have recognizable uniforms. Many corporations require their employees to wear uniforms, from the front office to the janitorial staff.  

In the book of Zechariah, there’s an interesting scene involving clothing. In his vision, Zechariah sees Joshua, the High Priest, wearing filthy garments, standing before God and the angel of the Lord. And Satan is standing at Joshua’s right hand to accuse him. 

Then the LORD speaks. “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” The Lord speaks again, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him. And to [Joshua], He said, ‘See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.’ And I said, ‘Let them put a clean turban on his head.’ So, they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the Lord stood by.” This powerful act of forgiveness and transformation should fill us with hope and inspiration. 

In this vision, God takes away the sin of Joshua, typified by the filthy clothing, and gives him a pure robe of righteousness. In other words, when forgiveness of sin is accepted, the heart is changed, and we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. This act of embracing Christ’s righteousness should reassure and comfort us in our journey of spiritual growth.  

In our previous study, from the opening verses of Colossians chapter 3, we looked at what it means to be risen with Christ. We talked about the changes that take place when we, by faith, enter into His death and resurrection. One of those changes was our focus. We constantly seek the things above, the things of Christ—our way of thinking shifts from earthly to heavenly things.  

As a result of our being in Christ, certain practices cannot be a part of our lives. Verse 5 lists a series of sexual sins, including covetousness. Paul told us these things must be put to death within us personally and among us corporately.  

Today, we begin a study from Colossians 3:8-14 titled, “Pursuing Perfection.” This section builds on the preceding verses and reminds us that when we place Christ first, that choice will dramatically impact our lives. I’ll begin by reading the text. 

⁸But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 

 ⁹Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 

¹⁰and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,  

¹¹where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. 

¹²Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;  

¹³bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.  

¹⁴But above all these things put on love, the bond of perfection.  

In this text, Paul uses the metaphor of “a change of clothing” to show us how our relationship with the risen Christ will motivate our pursuit of perfection.  

The First Part of the Metaphor is, 

Discard the Old 

Paul uses the metaphor of clothing several times in this text. He begins by saying that since you have embraced Christ, made Him preeminent in your life, and passed from that old life of sinful conduct, here’s what you need to do next. Strip yourself of the following sinful vices and cast them aside. The previous list of sins, from verse 5, focuses on sins of the body. In our text, Paul focuses on sins of the spirit. Remember, Paul is writing to Christ-followers.  

The life of a Christ-follower is a destination and a journey. Our embrace of salvation through faith in the shed blood of Jesus is just the first step on the journey; it makes us righteous in the sight of God. However, salvation is not the destination; Christlikeness is. The destination will be reached when we conform entirely to His image, which won’t happen until we are in His presence. In the meantime, we journey toward the goal, “…for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” This ongoing journey of spiritual growth should motivate and commit us to discipleship.  

And what are those things we must discard? Anger. Anger is a violent emotion, a desire for punishment or vengeance. Paul recognizes it in Ephesians 4:26, saying, “be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” He implies that unresolved anger allows Satan to make inroads into your life.  

What arouses my anger? It’s often one of two things: my rights have been violated, or my expectations aren’t met. I think I have a right to quiet in my home. So, when the teenage neighbor practices drumming when I’m trying to read or concentrate on a task, I feel that right has been violated. The natural response is to get angry at someone violating my right to quietness.  

And then, expectations. I am a punctual person. I despise being late, so I plan to be early for appointments and meetings. When someone sets up an appointment with me and arrives late, my unmet expectations can easily arouse anger. You have things that trigger your anger. I must continually allow the Holy Spirit to enable me to discard unrighteous anger.  

Next is wrath; wrath often develops as people brood over their anger. They turn the offense over and over in their mind. It’s like a boiling pot. Wrath is passion, fierceness, and indignation. It indicates the agitation of the spirit and the physical effects, such as elevated blood pressure, heavy breathing, and a flushed face. Eventually, it results in angry outbursts. James reminds us that “the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Paul agrees; take this off and discard it!   

Next on Paul’s list of things to discard is malice. It is ill-will, especially the desire to injure another person, to rejoice in their misfortune. The malice among those who profess to follow Christ is distressing. It must’ve been a problem in Colossae too; otherwise, Paul wouldn’t have mentioned it. All of us experience hurts in life. Jesus told us in Luke 17:1 that offenses are inevitable. But when they come, God, through the Holy Spirit, gives us grace to respond with meekness and forgiveness; to return good for evil.   

However, if we fail to accept God’s grace in times of hurt and pain, we will become bitter and seek revenge. I am deeply grieved by the amount of bitterness in churches today. So many congregations have been torn apart because people are unwilling to forgive.  

As professing Christ-followers, we must confront the seriousness of malice. God hates it! Proverbs 6 reminds us that there are six things the Lord hates, and seven are an abomination; they are detestable to Him. The last one mentioned is “one who sows discord among brothers.”  

Paul gave this advice to Titus: “Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.” We have ignored this exhortation to our hurt.  

The feelings of malice and bitterness we too often overlook breed a desire for revenge, leading us to the next level of things we’re to put off.  

Paul says, “Put off blasphemy.” Often, this word makes us think about taking God’s name in vain or attributing evil to Him. No Christ-follower should engage in that. But blasphemy isn’t limited to that. It is slander, speech that injures another person’s good name and reputation. Today, with the widespread use of social media, it can be spread around the community and the world in seconds, making it almost impossible to withdraw it. Be careful what you post on social media because you can’t take it back once it’s out there, and it will live on forever in infamy!  

Next on the list is filthy language. There’s plenty of crude and vulgar speech in our world today. There was a time when some words weren’t used when women or children were present. Not anymore! That’s sad, but it’s not what Paul talks about here.  

This isn’t just shameful language but rather foul-mouthed abuse. This is the only place in the New Testament where this word is used. If you notice, there’s a progression in this list of sins. This language reveals what is in men’s hearts and should not be in our speech.  

As he wraps up this list of things to put off, Paul writes, “stop lying to each other…” Here was a practice from their past that the Colossian Believers had carried with them. We should not have a habit of lying. We are warned not to speak deliberate falsehoods.  

The reason Paul gives for putting away lying is twofold: you have put off the old self with its corresponding behaviors. Putting off means to wholly divest oneself of something. And, it denotes a separation from what is put off! Using the clothing analogy, remove the old garment, use it for a rag, or burn it! It no longer fits who you are in Christ. Paul wrote in Romans 6:6, “…knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with (or rendered inoperative), that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” 

In the time Paul lived, a slave was easily identified by the clothing he wore. Imagine if that enslaved person could purchase his freedom or was voluntarily set free. What would be one of the first things he would do? He would get some different clothing! It might not be new, but it would let everyone know he was no longer a slave. What does your clothing tell others about you and your relationship to the Father? What is the Holy Spirit asking you to put off? 

This brings us to the next part of the metaphor of a change of clothing. But that will need to wait until next time.  

Thanks for sharing these thoughts with us about discarding the old. To put on the “new man,” we must discard the old; both cannot exist in the same person simultaneously. J Mark explained each one, and with God’s help, we can put off these actions from the old man. Some may be more challenging, but don’t quit pursuing perfection.      

If you have any questions about today’s teaching or want to contact us for any reason, here are a few ways to reach us. An easy way is to email. Our email is [email protected]. Or you can message online, our website is heraldsofhope.org. Once there, click on the “contact us” link on the top right, and you can message us directly there. We look forward to hearing from you soon.  

Thanks for being with us this week. Please join us next week as we continue this teaching and look at the second part, putting on the new. Philippians Paul says, “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” May this also be said of you and me.     

*This episode is an exposition by J. Otis Yoder, re-recorded by J. Mark Horst, with an opening and closing by Arlin Horst.