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May 11, 2006 “12Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” (Colossians 3:12 NIV) The Christian is “chosen” by God. He is a person who was completely incapable of personally developing saving faith yet God gave him the faith necessary to understand and implement biblical truth to life. Does this leave anyone behind? No. All men begin on exactly the same natural plane. They are all born into sin. Then they are all offered the same offering for life, but like the rich young ruler who approached Christ, when many natural men discover there is sacrifice in faith they balk and turn away from truth to the easier slide into sin and spiritual darkness. The Christian is to wear compassion because all men are lost and need to see the active compassion of faith. The Christian is more readily accepted through his acts of “kindness” toward the less fortunate. He remains in “humility” in that it is not important to stress his personal standing before God. The more important matter is seeing the lost come to spiritual understanding and faith. So the Christian remains “gentle” and “patient” in the knowledge that the unbeliever is more apt to attack, reject, or be forcefully rebellious against the message of Jesus. “13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (Colossians 3: 13-14 NIV) The words contained in these two verses are to Christians for Christians. There should be no disharmony within the true Body of Christ. Those who know what true faith is all about are capable of forgiving all gaffs and errors. While correcting error it is always done in a spirit if absolute “forgiveness”. I write “absolute” because this is what Christ did for each believer. He absolutely forgave everything to present us without sin before his Father. It is the “Love” of Jesus that binds the entire body of the truly faithful into a “unity”. No laws of clergy or magistrate can mandate what must be spiritually natural for the True Christian. “15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” (Colossians 3:15 NIV) It should never matter what any unbeliever speaks against the life of one who knows the Lord. Jesus stood before his detractors and spoke the Word of God. This is the only right answer to the atheist and the general religionist who says God’s Word isn’t the only word. The True Christian is thankful because he knows he holds a “peace” in his heart that only one who is truly faithful can possess. The rest of the unbelieving world has no real source for peace of heart and mind. When Jesus is rejected then any hope for peace is diminished. “16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16 NIV) Again, these words are largely to the Christian for the Christian. The Christian understands the psalms of scripture are the voice of God through the Kings and the Prophets of his chosen nation. God is not such an old fuddy-duddy that he hasn’t given hearts of music to his people. There are hundreds of “spiritual songs” that denote the gifts of God to his chosen and his faithful. Christians are to correct and admonish other Christians with the Word of God. There is no other source necessary for doctrinal or spiritual correction. The “Word of Christ” (Word of God) is that “bread of life” for the truly faithful child of the King. “17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3: 17 NIV) The “bottom line” for the Christian is “…whatever…in word or deed…” is to be done in the name of the Lord Jesus. These articles are put together in prayer and faith, believing what the scripture says. The scripture says that God’s word never returns to God “void” but it performs all the duties that God has determined it will perform. I trust that as a promise and that is why these columns will continue to be written even against all the fear-filled diatribes of the unfaithful. There just is no supposed “truth” of any atheist that stands against the actual Word of the True God. The Christian knows that and can remain unafraid; knowing whom it is he believes and trusts is always faithful to his promises. ------------ Email Skip: skiptoomaloo@hotmail.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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