The Sacred Secured Saint
SAINT – v.12
12 “Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,”
Our Christian story of being born again does not start with our story of defeat from the past battles of life. The new you, the saint version of you, begins as your Christian story unfolds with the evidence of the Holy Spirit in you, pointing you to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It points you to the authority of the Scriptures: the infallible, inspired, Holy Spirit-inspired Word of God. You become compassionate toward people and begin to hate sin. These are the marks of our story being unfolded in Christ.
You become a saint not when you arrive at your full spiritual potential. Spiritual growth is important, but it is secondary to your identity as a saint, holy and beloved.
This is how we are called to live out the Christian life: from the truth of who we are and the identity we have received in Christ. Without the Holy Spirit, we would never be able to discover or embrace this truth in our lives.
Perhaps we need to ask ourselves at this moment:
Do I know my valuable spiritual identity? Do I know that I am a saint? Do I know that I am beloved, dearly loved by God?
The power of Satan’s deception continually seeks to pull humanity away from the miraculous truth of God. Satan attacks our identity. He whispers lies, telling us that we are not worthy or that we do not belong to God. His goal is to destroy the truth and obscure the rich worth that is revealed when we begin our journey with Christ.
However, the moment we receive the Holy Spirit, the truth of our spiritual identity begins to unfold, bringing peace in the midst of all human failures. Through the Holy Spirit, believers receive this new heavenly identity as saints on the earth. This is who you are in Christ, a saint, holy and dearly loved by God.
This reconciliation with God is a majestic work of divine grace, where sinners are welcomed, forgiven, adopted, and forever loved in Christ.
SACRED v12-13
12 “compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
Paul, the great church planter, theologian, and evangelist, graciously commands the church to put on the new dress of the Christian life. Yes, you are a saint saved by grace. Christ has imputed His righteousness to you. God has made you His chosen and dearly loved child. Now, because of who you are in Christ, you are called to live differently.
We no longer live according to our past, our sinful desires, our flaws, or our old nature. We now live according to a new protocol, a new spiritual rhythm. Paul calls the church to put on some remarkable virtues: “compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.”
This is quite a list. I am not sure about you, but for me, this is a significant number of virtues that Paul quickly places before the church and says, “This is your new outfit.
Once again, just as we do not discover our identity apart from Christ, neither can we produce these virtues in our lives apart from the Holy Spirit. We cannot display this spiritual wardrobe in our daily contexts if we are not walking in and being continually filled with the Holy Spirit. It is impossible to faithfully live the Christian life without the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.
Practically speaking, we must be intentional and sensitive about cultivating these virtues in our lives. These are not occasional actions but lifelong dispositions produced by the Spirit.
Compassionate Hearts
Compassion means allowing the heart of Jesus to be expressed through our lives. Perhaps compassion means feeding someone who is homeless. Maybe it means caring for a church member who is hurting because of difficult circumstances. Perhaps it means visiting the sick, preparing meals for a struggling family, encouraging someone who is grieving, or simply listening to a person who feels forgotten.
Compassion is love in action. Jesus was moved with compassion throughout His earthly ministry. He saw the crowds, the broken, the sick, and the outcast, and He responded. As followers of Christ, we are called to do the same.
Let compassion not be occasional but a lifelong lifestyle.
Humility
Humility is a beautiful Christian virtue. We must continually put away pride because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. If we desire more of God’s grace in our lives, we must lay aside the outfit of pride.
Pride was found in Lucifer, and it led to his downfall. Pride seeks self-exaltation, but humility seeks God’s glory and the good of others. Humility recognizes that every good gift we possess comes from God.
Humility attracts the favor and goodness of God because humble people understand their dependence upon Him. The humble person is teachable, approachable, and willing to serve others without seeking recognition.
Meekness
Meekness is often misunderstood as weakness, but biblical meekness is strength under control. It is the ability to possess power and yet choose gentleness.
Jesus perfectly embodied meekness. He was the strongest person ever to walk the earth, yet He did not abuse His power. Instead, He used His strength to serve others. Though He could have called upon legions of angels, He willingly submitted Himself to the Father’s will.
Jesus said that He came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. Likewise, Christian meekness means using our strength, influence, abilities, and resources for the good of others rather than for self-promotion.
Patience
Patience is a difficult virtue for all of us. Perhaps we can confess together: “Lord, help me to be patient.”
Patience does not mean passivity or procrastination. Rather, it is the Spirit-given ability to endure difficulties, delays, disappointments, and difficult people without giving up, becoming bitter, or responding in anger.
Patience means moving forward with wisdom, trusting God’s timing, and refusing to rush ahead of Him. It allows us to endure the bumps and valleys of life while remaining faithful.
God has been extraordinarily patient with us. Therefore, we are called to extend that same patience to others. The patient Christian reflects the long-suffering character of God.
You could also add a concluding statement such as: “Church, these virtues are not merely moral improvements; they are the visible evidence that Christ lives in us through the Holy Spirit.”
“Bearing with One Another and Forgiving One Another.”
Now Paul singles out another command by addressing something difficult for all of us as humans: bearing with one another, or tolerating one another. There may be someone in the church who irritates you, someone who is arrogant, someone who is not a good cook and you still have to eat their food, someone who sleeps in church, or someone who is slow in responding to text messages or emails. You can name any problem that you might face in the body of Christ.
The solution Paul gives here is not detachment or avoiding that person, but bearing with that person. Christian community is not built on perfection but on grace.
At the same time, Paul shifts gears to an even higher expectation from the church: forgiving the person who has a complaint against you, or the person against whom you have a complaint. This is difficult. Again, without the Holy Spirit, this is very hard. But because you have the Holy Spirit, you can do all things, including forgiving others.
Also note that forgiveness is not a virtue that we can choose to pick up or drop. If you want to follow Christ, you must forgive. It is a biblical command.
At the same time, forgiveness does not necessarily mean that we must fully reconcile and dine with that person. For example, if someone kills your spouse, yes, you would need to forgive, and that would be extremely difficult. But you are not necessarily being asked to dine with that person or continue life as though nothing happened.
Forgiveness is a command, not a choice. Reconciliation and friendship, however, often require repentance, trust, and wisdom, and therefore may not always be possible.
But the point here is clear: we must forgive and not attempt to plot revenge or hold on to rage and bitterness. As the Lord has forgiven us, so we also must forgive others.
SECURED
14 “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.!”
It looks like Paul is not stopping in pressing the buttons. He calls us to a greater level of virtuous representation, a greater display of our Christian calling. Paul says, above all the things that we have talked about so far, put on love. The result of that love will be perfect harmony.
This is so crucial for the body of Christ: to maintain the love of God among ourselves. Especially in the context of the local church, we need to keep practicing love. Keep doing potlucks. Keep doing BBQs. Keep cleaning up together. Keep giving. Keep sharing our homes. Keep bringing food for one another. Keep the fire of love burning.
Knowing that this is agape love, the love of God toward us while we were still sinners. This means that someone may not appear worthy of your love, but because you are in God, you will love that person. It is an unconditional giving away of ourselves for the good of others.
Paul then adds, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” This is so good. If there is chaos, division, or something negative ruling our hearts, perhaps we are not allowing the peace of Christ to rule and reign in our lives.
Again, everything works with this one simple reality: the Holy Spirit in us and our desire to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit.
How do we do that? Read the Word. Pray. Worship. Join a prayer community. Join a men’s group or a women’s group. Walk in Christian fellowship, so that we can grow not only in peace and love, but in all these virtues
Church, the Christian life is impossible without the Holy Spirit, but with the Holy Spirit, these virtues can become a beautiful reality in our lives.
