Clothe (Part 7 of ?)

[We are but a post or two away from the end...]

When we turn to Jesus and begin worshiping His as God we will begin to see certain attitudes, characteristics, and qualities die while others begin to form, grow, and thrive.

Part of worshiping God involves killing – ripping, tearing, removing – the character produced from worshiping ourselves and following our sinful nature.

(Turn to Jesus and Hulk Hogan your sin )

Worshiping God doesn’t just involve killing. It also enables, expects, and requires us to clothe ourselves with God’s character as we follow and obey Jesus.

This may be the most surprising and challenging aspect of the Christian life. I have come to believe that a number of people who claim Christianity as their religion of choice only hold to that identity at a surface level. A friend of mine compares this type of person to a Tar Heel fan who boasts about them as their favorite but couldn’t tell you who made up their starting five. I’m not sure who is to blame but many people who decide to become Christians do so with the misconception that the choice only entails and extends them forgiveness of sins in the present and eternal life in heaven in the future. These things are true and offered freely to those who turn to Jesus, but there’s more and much expected.

At the moment someone turns to Jesus confessing that He’s God and they’re not they become sanctified unto God. They become set apart to Him alone. Their heart becomes holy. When God looks at someone who has set their faith and affections on Him He sees Jesus holiness shining through.

After someone is converted God the Holy Spirit will continually sanctify their character and behavior – their thoughts, word, and actions – for the rest of their life. As long as they’re alive God will perform spiritual surgery to remove sinfulness and replace it with godliness.

The holy are becoming holy.

In Hebrews 12 the author describes Jesus as “the author and perfecter” of those who put their faith in Him. Through His death and His choosing He enables us to turn to Him for salvation. And through His resurrection He sets us free to be transformed by Him. Pastor Matt Chandler calls the process of continual transformation “progressive sanctification.” The Christian, who has turned to Jesus, should gradually take on His character and quality.

This is expected of those who follow Jesus according to the Bible, but is it always the case among Christian today?

We want the body but we don’t want the workout.

We want the knowledge but we don’t want the education.

We want the benefits but we don’t want the commitment.

We want to go to heaven but we don’t want to die.

We want transformation but we don’t want the sanctification.

The reason may be as simple as the lyrics to Fall Out Boys America’ Suitehearts, “Let’s hear it for America’s suitehearts. I must confess, I’m in love with my own sins.” This chorus describes our problem but if we look closer it may actually be pointing us in the right direction if we’re keen enough to follow.

Puritan pastor, John Owen, would say to obtain glorification we must experience mortification. We discussed this in the last post, but for the sake of remembrance, Colossians 3 says Christians must “put to death,” and “rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.” Hebrews 12:1 gives the instructions to “throw of everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” We read this but resist it. Because as the author of Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis, wrote, “The natural life knows that if the spiritual life gets hold of it, all its self-centredness is going to be killed.” Those who follow Jesus must, as an act of worship, allow God to kill their godlessness.

And they must partake in the killing as well.

But worshiping Jesus as God does not only involve killing our sins of thought, word, and deed. To reiterate, worship is less about singing songs and raising our hands but it’s all about turning to Jesus confessing who we aren’t so we can reflect who He is. Colossians goes on to explain that Christians worship by clothing themselves with God’s character.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

The Bible is full of material that tells us that God is the one at work in the life of the believer, conforming him or her to the image and likeness of Jesus (Philippians 2:13; Galatians 5:22-23; Hebrews 12:2). So many just sit back and continue to permit sin to dictate their lives and then blame God for not changing them or even worse accuse God of allowing it to remain. But we can’t separate the content of verses like Philippians 2:13, Galatians 5:22-23, and Hebrews 12:2 from their context. Let’s look at each of these briefly (as I am already 738 words into this post).

Philippians 2:12-13 reads like this, “Therefore, my dear friends…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”

Galatians 5:17, 22-23 says, “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh…But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

And Hebrews 12:1-2 tells us, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Jesus’ death on the cross enables us to be transformed by God along with or alongside of God. Christians must proactively join God in His progressive sanctification. The Gospel tells us that God is extremely opposed to earning salvation by trying to transform our lives and hearts ourselves. But the Gospel is in favor of our effort as a response to Jesus’ salvation and in line with God to kill our sin and clothe ourselves with His character.

Bible reading, prayer, confession and repentance, church community, godly marriage, suffering, obedience, solitude, service, and sacrifice won’t do anything to save you, but they do help to transform you as God works in you. These things assist us to grow in godliness.

Our culture picks out the outfits – attitudes, behaviors, and language – it accepts and values. Religion corners us into believing God won’t save us until we kill our bad habits and transform ourselves. The Gospel is all about God transforming us when we turn to Jesus and walk with Him.

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