Thoughts re Colossians??

[MaxPC]

It would be encouraging to hear other’s perspectives on Colossians 3:

11 Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scyth′ian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, 13 forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 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 the one body. And be thankful.

[silentreader]

It would be encouraging to hear other’s perspectives on Colossians 3:

11 Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scyth′ian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, 13 forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 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 the one body. And be thankful.

All those qualifiers in v11 are pertinent to people who are still "in Adam".
For those "in Christ" there are no such sub-sets.

1 Corinthians 15:22
English Standard Version
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

[Sudsy]

It would be encouraging to hear other’s perspectives on Colossians 3:

11 Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scyth′ian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, 13 forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 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 the one body. And be thankful.

I think the 'put on' is significant in that it is an on-going choice we are to make and although the Holy Spirit enables us to be what we can't be on our own, we still must chose to go against what our flesh wants to do and allow the Spirit's control in our hearts. He doesn't force Himself on us.

These verses are good on-going reminders especially when we are posting here to see if we are operating in the Spirit or operating in the flesh. Do my responses reflect these characteristics in what I post ? I'm afraid I fail often. Good reminder !!!

[Sudsy]

It would be encouraging to hear other’s perspectives on Colossians 3:

11 Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scyth′ian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, 13 forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 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 the one body. And be thankful.

Take using the word 'absurd' and is it a word we should use when speaking of other's thoughts and beliefs ? Does it pass the test of verse 12 above ?

[Bootstrap]

I think the 'put on' is significant in that it is an on-going choice we are to make and although the Holy Spirit enables us to be what we can't be on our own, we still must chose to go against what our flesh wants to do and allow the Spirit's control in our hearts. He doesn't force Himself on us.

These verses are good on-going reminders especially when we are posting here to see if we are operating in the Spirit or operating in the flesh. Do my responses reflect these characteristics in what I post ? I'm afraid I fail often. Good reminder !!!

Yes. Absolutely.

Take using the word 'absurd' and is it a word we should use when speaking of other's thoughts and beliefs ? Does it pass the test of verse 12 above ?

I don't know what post you are talking about, and haven't seen it. I also probably don't need to.

But even in Colossians, Paul uses some direct language. We do need to be able to speak clearly to truth and falsehood.

Colossians 2:16-17 (NIV)

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

Colossians 2:18-19 (NIV)

Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. He has lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

Colossians 2:20-23 (NIV)

Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: 'Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!'? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

This calls for wisdom. We need to be able to speak directly to falsehood. The Bible does not tell us we always have to be "nice" in a way that means we can't speak to these things. But we also live in a world where speaking harshly is all too common, and not for the right reasons, not to promote the Kingdom of God.

[MaxPC]

It would be encouraging to hear other’s perspectives on Colossians 3:

11 Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scyth′ian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, 13 forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 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 the one body. And be thankful.

I think the 'put on' is significant in that it is an on-going choice we are to make and although the Holy Spirit enables us to be what we can't be on our own, we still must chose to go against what our flesh wants to do and allow the Spirit's control in our hearts. He doesn't force Himself on us.

These verses are good on-going reminders especially when we are posting here to see if we are operating in the Spirit or operating in the flesh. Do my responses reflect these characteristics in what I post ? I'm afraid I fail often. Good reminder !!!

Indeed and an excellent reminder that it is CHOICE whether we use harsh words under the guise of “defending the faith” or 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians 4

[Sudsy]

I am going to disagree here regarding the need to be 'nice'. Being nice, in my understanding, would not be to avoid saying what we believe is truth but rather about how we say it. For example Eph 4:31-32 AMP reads -

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor [perpetual animosity, resentment, strife, fault-finding] and slander be put away from you, along with every kind of malice [all spitefulness, verbal abuse, malevolence]. Be kind and helpful to one another, tender-hearted [compassionate, understanding], forgiving one another [readily and freely], just as God in Christ also forgave you.

For example, if I say that what you believe regarding being nice is 'absurd', then my guess is that you likely would feel some 'put down' for your view of what being nice means. I know I would feel that way. But if I say that I disagree and give my reasonings, I would think you would be less offended and more open to possible further discussion or letting it go that we agree to disagree.

What I have found in myself at times is an attempt to force my truth down someone else's throat, so to speak. And some might be saying 'amen' to that regarding some of my comments regarding evangelism and other topics. I believe there is a nice way to express our convictions on truth and a not so nice way.

However, the Holy Spirit could also lead us to be 'blunt' where the occasion required it. But that should be under the clear guidance of the Holy Spirit and not our flesly nature. Jesus was quite 'blunt' with the Pharisees but He was always speaking in the Spirit. And Paul wrote some 'blunt' things too but we regard his writings also as being Spirit directed.

Anyway, those are some of my thoughts on the matter and would like to hear from others as I believe we all have our personal struggles in being Spirit lead and sometimes, like Paul, can get frustrated with this war battle with our flesh.