Put on the New Life

Put on the New Life
Colossians 3:8-14
January 4, 2026

     We pick up where we left of last time, with Paul writing that Christ has done a complete work in us. We are saved by the grace and the finished work of Jesus, the enemy having been disarmed, having no letter of guilt against you anymore.

     We saw that we have died to the self, and to the elementary principles of this world.

     We are reminded to keep walking in Christ, holding on to and living in the freedom that Christ has purchased for us.

     Now he continues by teaching them how to walk and live in Christ after they have died to the world.

     These are important principles that guide our spiritual walk. If you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. He is again encouraging them to look at life from an eternal, spiritual perspective.

     How do you keep seeking the things that are above? Do I think of angels singing, golden streets, the glory of God, and ignore this life?

     Although longing for heaven and thinking of the greatness and majesty of God in heaven is great, that is not what this scripture means.

     Keep seeking the things above, seeking the higher things. Higher way to live, higher way of looking at things, discerning the truth, thinking of everything from the perspective that Jesus is the highest authority, and has the last say in our lives.   

     This is a crucial foundational truth to understand before we go into the next section. Otherwise, we can be deceived into focusing on doing the works apart from Christ. All these principles  flow FROM our relationship and FROM His inner working in our lives.

     This leads us to a very practical section, where Paul discusses and points out the higher way to live. It is contrary to the worldly, fleshly, selfish norms, calling us to walk in a higher way.

     Are you still stuck in your old ways? Old frame of mind? Old way of doing things? Put it aside.

     Christ set you free not to walk any more under the yoke of slavery. Put it off, seek the godly things, the principles of God, walk in that.

I. Lay Aside the Old Self

• When you read these verses it’s easy to get the idea that you simply take off the old clothes from the past, go to God’s closet, take out the clothes of the new man and put them on. It’s not that simple.
• You have to keep putting off the old ways of thinking, old habits, old feelings and emotions.
• When you came to faith in Jesus Christ, you brought a lot of the old life with you and you have to keep putting it off and putting on the new. Old practices, old habits and old emotions were there first and it’s easy to fall back on that which is familiar.

Illus – When people struggle with things in their lives, much of it is rooted in mindset of the past; hurts from the past, experiences that defined them. It affects marriages, how people work with their kids, even reactions as they get triggered by things that happen at their work. These are all old ways of thinking that wants to control your actions. Coupled with that, there are things people would do to cope with or medicate these thought patterns. If someone feels unloved, maybe a one-night stand will help. If someone feels overwhelmed, maybe that bottle of whiskey will help.

• But those ways were hurtful to you and those around you and what God wants for you is so much better.

Illus – Israel lived in the slavery and oppression of Egypt for 400 years. God miraculously set them free through Moses, but setting them free from their old way of thinking was a different thing altogether. God set them free, but they kept thinking the same old ways. They were quickly taken out of Egypt, but it took much longer to get Egypt out of them.

Numbers 11:5-6, “We remember the fish we use to eat in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leaks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna.”

Isaiah 43:17-18, “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it?”

A. Lay aside the old way of treating others

• Verse 8 – lay aside all these kinds of hurtful words.
• When God speaks a new word of life over us, we start to speak a new word of life over others.

James 3:9-10, With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.

James 1:26, If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.

• Many times, this is rooted in anger.
• The problem with anger is that it makes you overreact and you say and do things that are hurtful and later regret. Anger is a very strong emotion.
• All of these things come from hurt emotions; and hurt emotions are based on pride and insecurity. God gave emotions to us as a gift, but they were never meant to master over us.

1 Corinthians 6:12, …I will not be mastered by anything

• They do however reveal to us areas of hurt and insecurity that have to be addressed and laid before Jesus so He can heal them.

Illus – For a moment think about the last time you got angry. Why? What triggered it? Well, it was someone else’s comment or fault. Really? Did they choose how you would react? What made you react that way? Fear? Insecurity? Did it make you feel disrespected, worthless, not seen, not validated?

• In the moment of anger, let God reveal to you why, and then let truth reign. Receive His truth that disarms the lie. These are all things that Christ has done to complete us. We find our worth in Him.
• Then we are set free to do the following.

Proverbs 16:32, He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his own spirit, than he who captures a city.

B. Lay aside lying

• Truth is very important to God; truth is part of His nature, His character. Jesus said, “I am the way, I am the Truth, and I am the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.”
• Lying and deception are part of the nature of the enemy, the devil, and it’s part of the nature of the world from which we came.

John 8:44-45, “You are of your father the devil, and want to do the desires of your father… He does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.”

• Lies are very destructive. Relationships are built on the foundation of trust and truth; through this word God is strengthening and building and edifying relationships.

Proverbs 12:22, Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal faithfully are His delight.

• That being said, Paul also said in another place that when you speak the truth, you should also speak the truth in love. Truth without love can be hurtful, but truth with love is edifying.
• We speak truth in love when God has spoken truth in love into us.

Illus – There is a difference between telling someone, you are acting like a real idiot, opposed to when someone says they struggle with acting like an idiot, and then you reveal the truth of their hurt in love and how Jesus came to set them free.

II. Put on the New Self

• When you opened your heart to receive Christ, God created the new man; the eternal, forgiven soul that has already inherited the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. God created it; now live your life according to it. That’s what Paul is saying.
• Verse 10 – the new self is being renewed, Paul wrote, according to the image of the One who created him.
• In other words, transformation of soul, of heart and of character is a continual process; verse by verse, chapter by chapter, day by day, truth by truth, moment by moment we are being changed as God’s Spirit speaks life over the dead things in our lives. We are changed into what? Into His character, into His perspective, into His heart.

2 Corinthians 3:18, But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

• To have an unveiled face is to open your heart and trust His grace, His kindness, and His forgiveness.

Illus – When Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, He spoke to her about living water. She responded, “Sir, give me this water…” Jesus said, “Go, call your husband and come here.” She answered, “I have no husband.” Jesus said, “You said it correctly, for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.”

• Why was Jesus even speaking to this woman? Clearly, He knew what kind of woman this was, so why speak to her at all? Answer; it wasn’t about what kind of woman this was; it was about what kind of heart God has toward sinners.

A. Put on a heart of compassion

• To put on the new self is to put on a heart after Christ, a heart like His, a heart of compassion.
• It’s easy to become religious and become high and mighty and look down on those who have made mistakes, who have made a mess of their lives.
• But to have a heart like Jesus is to have a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
• A danger Christians are confronted with, is to see those who are living in rebellion, in sin, and get angry at them. Although we do not agree with what they stand for, we can love the person and hate the sin that is destroying them.

Illus – My wife is director of CEF and they did an evangelism outreach at the County Fair. There she spoke to kids who have no idea what the Bible is. They have no values built on Biblical norms. They have never heard the stories of Joseph, Daniel, Noah, David, or even Jesus. Foundational stories that guide values and thought-patterns.  Sadly, most probably, their parents cannot tell them the stories, because they don’t know it either. The only framework of Christianity they have is the actions of Christians, and many times, if their perspective of Christianity is found  in what is portrayed by the media, they only see the angry, combative, judgmental  perspective, not the truth with love Jesus modeled.

• We don’t compromise on truth. We speak the truth not only as a cold fact, but because lies are destroying the person. We don’t shoot the hostages.
• People can only experience true compassion from other people. We are His hands and feet that show that.

B. Put on a heart of forgiveness

• When you put on the new self, created in Christ Jesus, you’re putting on His heart. That’s seen in verse 13, “Bearing with one another, and forgiving each other… just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.”
• He who is forgiven much, loves much. But not only should we love the Lord for how much He has forgiven us, we should extend that same forgiveness.
• Peter asked of Jesus, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

Matthew 18:22, Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

• When we forgive, we become like Him who also forgave us. In other words, forgiveness is a wonderful blessing for the one who receives it, but it’s transforming to the one who gives it.
• But if you do not forgive, if you hold onto a grudge, then bitterness takes hold of your heart and that bitter heart will make everything in your life bitter.

Hebrews 12:15, See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many  be defiled;

• You cannot take hold of the future if you are holding on to the past.

C. Put on a heart that loves

• Verse 14- Beyond all these things put on love which is the perfect bond of unity. In other words, it is the greatest of all things.
• The word ‘love’ is often used too broadly in English. We use it to say that we love many things, but here the word is ‘agape.’
• God is love and it determines the course of His actions. “God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son…”
• Love is what makes us something…

1 Corinthians 13:2, If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing…

• God made us in His image. God is love and He made us to love and be loved.
• We are called to pour forth the love that has been poured into us.

Illus – One of the most important things you can give a child is unconditional love. Love takes on many forms… it’s what makes them something.

• Love is something you give away; it comes out of who you are in the inner man. Transform the inner man with love and you have something to give away. The more love you give away, the greater you become in spiritual things.
• Many people think the goal of life is to be loved, this is not quite right. We are already loved beyond all we could ask or even imagine. The goal of life should be to give love.
• All of these principles have an extra blessing tied to them.

2 Corinthians 9:6, This I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

• In the end, our lives are enriched beyond measure as we put on the new and live the life and love of Christ.