“But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.” (vs8-11)

Christ is EVERYTHING to us. He is more than a theory; we elevate Him with our deeds, not only singing His praises, but we also live to glorify Him with obedience. He is everything to the church, everything in the bible, and He is everything in our new life and war against sin. Christ reveals Himself as our sanctifier, so we live obediently as partakers of His power. We were fornicators and liars, but now we speak the truth, reserve ourselves for marriage, and we live by His rules. We read, “Therefore put to death your members which are on the eart: fornication, uncleanness, evil passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them”.

The gospel doesn’t distinguish between rich and poor, Jew and Greek, or cultured and unsophisticated. The only distinction is holiness. God’s given us new life to spare us the wrath to come. He forgave us and changed our inward compass. Christ died for us, and now we live for Him.

We thank Him by our actions (vs12-17). We read, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do… and whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him”. We are GRATEFUL people, recounting mercies continually, and we are liberated by the Redeemer’s grace, humbled with freedom. We are elect, which means that God chose us before we chose Him (John 15:16). He loved us and made us His children, freely, without a cause in us. Therefore, since He forgives and we are complete in the Son, we see no reason to harbor grudges against others. He says, “But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful”. We forgive, not to earn points in heaven, but to thank God and do as He commands. We look to Christ, not only as our acceptance with God, but also to walk acceptably to Him. We treat others in constant remembrance of our salvation, dwelling on the gospel internally. He says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and humns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord”.

We live by the gospel. We are not mere hearers of the word, but we respond submissively. We are real believers who see Christ worthy of imitation, and we TRUST Him with our behavior. God’s goodness is the goal we imitate in our treatment of others.