Saturday, October 6, 2007
Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies . . .
YOUR IDENTITY IN CHRIST
How difficult do you think it would be to portray yourself to others as someone you are not? I'm sure that in this day of "identity theft" this is done more often than I care to think -- but what I have in mind is more like what a spy has to do. In order to infiltrate behind enemy lines a spy often has to take on a completely different personality. He has to be very good at it, because all it would take for his very life to be in danger is for him to slip up just once.
You would think that it would be much easier just being who you are! But unfortunately, such is not the case, as we believers know all too well.
Paul makes it clear in this verse just who we are, "the elect of God, holy and beloved." We believers are the ones that God has chosen. How amazing is that! God has chosen to bring you and me to faith in Jesus His Son. It wasn't because of our gender, or because of our race or because we were less sinful than others. The reason God chose you and me to be believers lies simply in Him and in His grace. It was His undeserved love for us sinful human beings that moved Him to bring us into His family, making us His children "through faith in Christ Jesus."
That is who we are now, and Paul does well to bring it up here, because it is our nature to forget. We tend to do what my computer does -- to fall back on our "default" condition. It takes constant awareness in our Christian lives to remember that we are no longer in the devil's kingdom, but are in Christ's kingdom.
And besides being constantly aware of who we are as the "elect of God," Paul also would have us be mindful of what that looks like. That is, to keep in mind what people who are the "elect of God" are like. For one, he lists "put on tender mercies." Our first concerns will be for the welfare of others, not our own. Our hearts will go out to those around us, and what is in our hearts will be reflected in what we say and do.
God help us not only to be identified by name as the "elect of God," but also be known by our lives full of "tender mercies!"
