Clothing is one of the most outward facing identifiers that we have in the world. Clothing can tell us who we are, it can reveal what we do, and it can tell us who we associate with. For some of the kids in this room, you might have a uniform for school or for sports. And those clothes tell everyone looking at you, where you go to school, or what team you play on, or what league you're in. For many adults, there are clothes or items of clothing that tell us where you work, whether you work at home caring for your family, or if you work at a hospital, or if you work in finance, or in law, or in art. The list goes on. Whether it is a burp cloth on your shoulder, or steel toe boots on your feet, there are clear identifiers based on what you wear that tell us and the world who you are and what you do. Even in first century Asia Minor, there are clothes that have identified somebody with who they were. Whether they were dressed as a philosopher in robes, or if they had these gritted up loins and they were fishermen, what they wore told us what they did. And in this text, Paul tells us about figurative clothes, clothes that if you are a Christian, you should wear, and clothes that you shouldn't. And this is not a debate about polyester or cotton, or what you should wear to church on Sunday, or what you should wear to the beach. Paul is using the imagery of putting on and putting off clothes to speak about actions. There are actions that reflect your identity in Christ, and there are actions that reflect the world. There are behaviors that are befitting of the believer. Paul's arguing that being in Christ comes with a new way of life. And this new way of life is lived out by putting off the old self and putting on the new self. This will serve as our outline this morning. So being in Christ comes with a new way of life. Let's look at our first point, put off the old self. Look at me at verses 5 to 9. These verses here hinge on what Paul has said in verses 1 to 4 of chapter 3. Paul previously explained that this new way of life is not something that you can muster up. It's not something that you can accomplish. It is received, not achieved. It is because we are raised with Jesus, that we have died with Jesus by faith, that we can live in this new way. That is what Paul lays out here. It is because Jesus has secured our pardon on the cross and in his resurrection that we can know his power and follow his pattern today. If you are Christ follower in this room this morning, it is because you have died and been raised with Jesus that Paul can say to you, put to death what is earthly in you. What is left of your former nature, the person that you used to be, Paul calls us to put it to death. Paul begins here with the phrase put to death, further intensifying the words put off, which he uses later. What we just read and what I just said might feel like a contradiction to you. How can we be dead in Christ and dead to the world in the verses earlier and then now be told to put to death what is earthly in us? Dear Christian, I do not think that Paul is giving us a contradiction. Instead, I think he is elaborating. He's elaborating on our condition. In Christ, yes, we have victory over Satan, the world and the flesh. But like the final enemy death, Satan, the world and the flesh are still present in our fight against sin till we are in glory. In Christ, we are free to obey God. But we are not free from the presence of sin in our hearts and our minds. This freedom from sin will only take place in glory. So till that day, we are called to a level of warfare, to put to death our passions and practices that are worldly and not godly. In theological terms, this is called sanctification. We believe that salvation is monergistic, meaning that God alone is involved in saving us. But in sanctification, we believe it's synergistic. We believe that God has given us a responsibility to pursue holiness as he helps us. The gospel ethic presented in these verses is not a form of legalism or moralism. Instead, it is the outworking of a real living faith. It is the fruit of your faith, not qualifying us for salvation, but being the evidence of our salvation. Being in Christ comes with a new way of life. Look with me again at verse five. Paul here is addressing putting off passions. Kids, this this might be new to you, the word passions. It means uncontrollable emotions or a wanting for something that is not good. Paul is not saying that we should not be passionate. He's saying to put off passions. And he gives us a list of passions. See verse five. He says sexual morality, impurity, passion, evil desire and covetousness. Each item in this list tells us of different sinful desires. Wanting somebody's body. Or responding in anger or an uncontrollable sadness. Wanting something that somebody else has. These are sins that Paul tells us about. Sin is this bending in on oneself. It's the mentality and reality of it's all about me. And these passions listed here are an example of people wanting others for their own consumption. Or expressing ourselves without care for our neighbour. Desiring people, possessions and places that are not ours. Passions in relation to this idea of clothing are the unseen layers of an outfit. They're like the undergarments. They're the essentials that hold together the outfit but are simply unseen. But the practices are the outworkings of the passions. The practices are the outside layers of the outfit. They are what people see and receive. No one can see if we are covetous. But they can't experience our anger over not getting what we want. People can't see our lustful thoughts but they can hear our flirtatious speech. No one can see our belittling of our neighbour in our hearts but they can hear our slander and our anger. But they can hear our slander and our gossip. No one can see our pride. But they can hear our lies. These are the dirty clothes that Paul calls us to put off. To put to death these passions and practices. To burn the boats to our old life and not turn back to them. That we would not wear them or want them. It is for these things that Paul tells us that the wrath of God is coming. God's anger is coming because of these passions and practices. They corrupt us and the world. Sin is more than naughty desires. It is the breaking of God's law. It is the breaking of His commands. And these commands are not given to restrain us but to liberate us. To know that true life is found in fidelity, in emotional regularity, in orderly contentment and generosity. Instead of covetousness. Covetousness is this wanting of something, something that does not belong to you in a posture of selfishness and self-indulgence. And Paul calls this idolatry. It is an affront to God's care for you and for me. God knows what we need. And this desire for that which does not belong to us dethrones God. Whether it is wanting somebody else's life or job or your neighbor's car or wanting somebody else's spouse. This is the equivalent of false worship according to Paul. Because deep down at the bottom of that covetousness is the desire for completeness. That if you had what you wanted, you'd be complete. Paul calls this idolatry. Our lives are not completed by what we have or don't have. They are completed by Christ and Christ alone. He is the one that makes us whole. We don't have to look anywhere else. We are to look to Christ in whom and by whom we put off the old self. In these verses that we have meandered through, we see both passive and active language, the present tense and the past tense. And the reason being for this is that this is the language of sanctification that God has worked in us and we have worked out. Paul says in verse nine that we have put off the old self and its practices. But in verse one, he calls us actively to put to death what is earthly in us. What we should see is that it's God who has worked in us so that we can work out. And may we work. Seeing that being in Christ comes with a new way of life. The way we walk, the way we walk will not be perfect in this life. It isn't. Neither none of us in this room have outgrown the teaching of putting off the old self. But what we should gather from this. Is that we do sin and we will sin. But the difference in being in Christ and the new way of life is not perfection. It is repentance. And that is the first step of putting off the old self. It's turning from who we used to be and turning to Christ. And that turning to Christ is putting on the new self. If you were to gather anything from what I said in this point is that it's this. Putting off the old self is repentance. Turn from your sin and turn to Christ. And in that turning you're putting him on the new self, pursuing who he is, what he's commanded. And this idea leads us to our second point. Being in Christ comes with a new way of life. This new way of life is lived out by putting off the old self and putting on the new self. Look at me where we left off in verse 10. Paul recounts as those who are in Christ, we have put on Christ and are actively being renewed in knowledge of our God. One commentator reflecting on this passage said the process of sanctification always includes two components. The negative aspect of sins that are forsaken. We just saw this in our last point. And the positive aspect of holiness being pursued. Both require effort on our part as believers. But in verse 10, we read of something that seems more passive. That we have put on the new self and we are being renewed in the knowledge of our God. This is revisiting our idea or the idea of union with Christ. That we have been united to him if we believed in him, so walk in him. So that we can be renewed in the knowledge of our God. As much as this sounds passive, it is not. In the past few weeks, Paul has made clear that maturity comes from a simple pursuit of God, not by visions. We are not like computers that somehow randomly receive updates from the cloud. We are relational beings whose minds are renewed in knowledge by scripture and relationship with our God. This is how God has gifted us to know him. Paul here is dealing with the positional character of union with Christ. We see this in verse 11. He is making clear that the new self is not just an identity project. It is a community project. There is no spiritual superiority that we can have amongst God's people. There is just equity. It is not barbarian, Scythian or slave all in all. Christ is in all. God has united us to himself making a new community. And among this community, he has called us to put on the new self. Look at verse 12. Similar to the passions in verse 5, we are given virtues. And these are like the undergarments of gospel clothes. The aspects of the heart that no one can see, but they experience. They see. Paul calls God's people to put on compassionate hearts. Kindness, meekness, humility and patience. And from those virtues, just like the earlier list, there are corresponding actions. Clothes that you put on top. The things that people see and receive. With a heart of compassion, kindness, humility and meekness and patience. We are to. Bear with one another. That job of bearing with one another takes a willingness to suffer with each other. To wait for people to change. If they ever change. Being willing to see things from their perspective, to be charitable, to be willing to be wrong. To be willing to be ruled out. To be strong, but controlled. To not be forceful. But to wait as they work through the process. Or if somebody has a complaint against, or if you have a complaint against, or if you have a complaint against, or if somebody has a complaint against, or if you have a complaint against someone. Paul calls us to forgive them. Just as we have been forgiven. Not holding grudges, but canceling the debt. Just as God has canceled your debt. Being compassionate. Knowing that you or I could have sinned in the same way. Being charitable, living by the words of Churchill. Don't assume malice. Just assume ignorance. Being patient, knowing it is God who leads us to repentance. Not you or I. We can't force somebody to repent. God uses our words. Not our force. So may we be patient. Knowing that God is the one who accomplishes the results. Church, this is hard. This is a very hard way to live. It is impossible apart from God's Spirit. Something that is unique about this list that we're given here is that it mirrors the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. In both texts, we see these virtues come from the Spirit in us. They're not just naturally there. They are supernaturally given. Apart from God, apart from the Spirit working, we can do nothing. So may we ask our God to fill us and to lead us. That we may put on the new self. That we may obey. As God has called us. If putting off the new, if putting off the old self is applied and known in repentance, putting on the new self is obeying. It is obeying our God. And Paul says, above all these things that he's called us to do, he says, put on love. And in my mind, love is both a virtue and action. It's like the overcoat that finishes the outfit. Love is a virtue. And it's an action that holds all the other things that Paul has commanded together. Giving us completeness and harmony. In relation to the verses of 9 to 14, all of these virtues and actions. Are a reflection of our creator in us. It is Christ in us working through us. And if we really are Christians. It is visible in what we do and what we say. It is clear in how we speak. It is clear in how we act and is clear in how we think. And that is what verses 15 to 17 highlight. That if you have put on this new self, we will have eternal peace and external peace amongst God's people. Being thankful, having God's word deeply in our hearts. That our tongues would teach each other. That we would sing to one another. That we would be thankful in all things. And whatever we do in word or in deed, we would do it in the name of Christ giving thanks to God. But we must ask ourselves individually and corporately, given this description, do we see Christ in us? Paul is specifically contrasting how the mouth and mind are used in the world. And how they're used in Christ. Are they used to tear down and consume or are they used to build up and serve? Church, as we come to the Lord's table, we must ask where we stand. Are we in division or unity? Are we forgiving or holding grudges? Are we thankful or complaining? Being in Christ comes with a new way of life. And Christ has given us this life so that we can live. Giving us his pardon, dying for our sins. But giving us his spirit so that we have his power to follow his pattern. If you have heard of this new life and you wanted to be yours today. And you've yet to believe in Jesus. I call out to you, turn to our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. Turn from what is earthly and turn to Christ. Believe in him that you would have his life, his death and his resurrection. That you may put off your earthly clothes, your dirty clothes and be clothed with our saviour, Jesus Christ, now and forever. For the believer in this room. What we must see is our saviour fresh. The one who is our very lives, as Paul says in Colossians chapter 3 verse 4. That we would put on his life. And that we would truly live. That we would reflect him accurately and what we say, think and do. But church, this is not something that we can do on our own. We must have our God work in us as we seek to obey him. We praise things, let us now pray.