Our Bond of Perfection: Love That Transforms the Christian Life

You Died in Christ

Paul says something rather startling in Colossians 3:3. He says "you died." Have you died? Have you died to sin? And when we belong to Christ this is true. The old you, the one before you became a Christ follower is dead. This death is not the end of something, but the beginning of a new life in Christ—one that is held together by what Paul later calls our “bond of perfection.”

Paul explains that we should put to death the parts of us that remain from the old life. Paul does not leave this idea of death to the old life undefined. He tells us exactly what must be put to death. He says,

"Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." Colossians 3:5

The Desires of the Old Man

Paul begins with sins that deal largely with sexual immorality and inward desire. He speaks of fornication, sexual sin outside of marriage, but he does not stop there. He includes uncleanness, a broader moral impurity that affects thought, word, and action. He then moves deeper to passion, an uncontrolled craving that drives a person towards immoral behavior, and evil desire, a greedy longing for what is not rightfully ours. Even covetousness, which may not appear outwardly sinful at first, is called idolatry because it places our desire above God.

God's wrath is coming for those who live like this. These are the actions of the old man, not the New that we have become. He then turns from these desires to the attitudes that flow from them.

From Inner Attitudes to Outward Words

Colossians 3:8 turns from outward acts to attitudes that rise from the heart and are often expressed through our words. There is anger, that settled, inward resentment people carry. This can erupt into wrath, sudden outbursts of rage. Malice goes even further, revealing a desire to see others harmed. These inner conditions eventually make their way out through blasphemy and filthy language, showing that what is within cannot remain hidden.

Have you ever used God's holy name carelessly or as a curse word? That is blasphemy. Have you cursed, used obscene language, or told a dirty joke? Then you have used filthy language. Scripture warns about the danger of idle words.

Where our old self thought lying was not a serious problem, in Colossians 3:9 Paul calls out lying. Don't do it, he says plainly. So many today routinely lie and think nothing of it. It makes their life easier, so they do it. That person is dead, the new one that is in Christ recognizes the damage lying does and how much God hates it.

How do you determine what is right and wrong? According to recent surveys many people just go by how they feel. If it feels right for them, they will do it. This is why so many of these sins no longer seem serious. They don't ask what does Scripture say. They don't read to find out what Jesus says.

This list shows us that God does not measure sin by how we feel about it. It starts with internal issues and continues to external sins that hurt others and to language that is hurtful and inappropriate to the Christian life. We should strive to remove these behaviors when we become Christians. We are called to die to sin.

All of these sins are common in the world now as they were then. If we participate in them then we are just like the world. We have to remember we are to be holy people—a set apart people. But the Christian life is not only about putting sin to death.

Putting on the New Man in Christ

Paul says in Colossians 3:10,

"and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,"

This new man is renewed not once, but daily in knowledge. The knowledge Paul is talking about is not just a head knowledge, although he acknowledges the importance of that as well. It is not necessarily how many Scriptures we can recite perfectly by heart. This knowledge is experience. The experience we have with understanding who God is that comes from spending time with Him. This is the knowledge of transformation. It helps us put on the new man and become who we say we are.

Christ Above All: The New Identity of Believers

In Colossians 3:11 Paul informs us that it doesn't matter who we are, what ethnicity we have, or what position we hold because "Christ is all and in all." If people today could just have this fact in their hearts what a better world we would live in. So once these worldly behaviors have been removed what behavior should we see?

Our new self should put on, "tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another," (Colossians 3:12). Are we merciful, kind, humble, meek, patient and forgiving? This is our goal to be like Christ. Since Christ forgave us we should forgive others.

Love, the Bond of Perfection

The key to all of this change or transformation is found in Colossians 3:14. Paul says there is a "bond of perfection", a glue that holds all these traits together and allows us to be this kind of person. What is this bond? Love.

These sinful behaviors all happen because of a lack of love for God or others. These people love, but they love only themselves. What Paul teaches here is not new. Jesus Himself made this same point even more directly.

Jesus Reveals the Heart of Sin (Mark 7)

In Mark 7:20-23 Jesus talks about what defiles a man. He says it is what comes from the inside of the man, from his heart. A man who is defiled is unfit to be in the presence of God. They are unholy. The list reminds us of Paul's list. Jesus says it is: evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. Some of these sins are obvious to us. But others are often excused, even defended, in our culture today.

We all agree we should not steal and kill people, but greed? If some is good, then even more must be better is many people's unspoken motto.

Adultery? In today's world if you are in an unhappy marriage and your spouse "doesn't understand you" it may be viewed as just getting the happiness you deserve.

Have you ever said things about people without knowing if it was true or not? Slander is often related to gossip. And pride? Well aren't we taught to be the best and tell everyone we know how good we are at what we do?

Jesus mentions foolishness, not in the way we usually think of it, but the foolishness of poor judgment or unbelief. Foolishness shows itself as prideful arrogance that leads to ruin.

These are not small sins. They are signs of a heart that has turned inward, placing self above God and others. This is not just a list to understand, but a battle we live every day.

Every day we wake up we face temptation to put our old clothes back on, to turn away from Jesus to that old, easier life where we could be like everyone else. Thank God His Holy Spirit lives in us empowering us to live this new life. We can do things that make it easier to be obedient: pray more, study Scripture, and meet together for encouragement and teaching.

When we fail, and we all fail sometimes, we are blessed to be able to call on Jesus with a repentant heart and turn back to Him. Becoming like Him is a lifetime process. Our transformation is the fruit of our bond of perfection we have in Jesus.

Living Out the Sacrificial Love of Christ

The new commandment that Jesus gives us is to love others as He has loved us. That is with a sacrificial love. This kind of love seeks nothing in return. This kind of love shows itself in the face of hate. Self-sacrificing love isn't seen much today. Our self help gurus all tell us to make sure we come first and if something is left over then we can give some love to others, but only if our needs are met first. Jesus' love is upside down from what the world calls love.

This love isn't done out of obligation and duty. We love others not just because we are obeying Jesus' command. We love because it pours forth from a transformed heart. We can't help but love because our gratitude and thankfulness for His love makes His desires our desires. Because we love Him we will keep His commandments.

Our love isn't just words but actions. We do things to show love. We don't pat someone on the head and tell them we love them. We make efforts to change their lives by our love when we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and imprisoned.

Even our enemies and those who hate us will experience God's love through us. We are called to love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us, and do good to those who hate us. There is no place for pride here. There is no place for "proving we are right."

So Jesus' countercultural love is our "bond of perfection." It is the very thing that makes all of this possible. It is not a love given without sacrifice. As Jesus sacrificed Himself for us, so we sacrifice ourselves for the world that does not know us or understand us. In this way we reach the lost with the thing they need the most: love and forgiveness. The same love and forgiveness that was given at Calvary for each of us.