11-03-23-ENG.

"You were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light. "

Ephesians 5:8 
DITCH THOSE SMELLY CLOTHES

Read It: Colossians 3:7-11
Remember what it was like before you were a Christian? If you were like most nonbelievers, it was no big deal to think what you wanted to think and be as greedy or lustful or whatever as you wanted to be. You could say like a lot of people, "There are three important folks in my life: me, myself, and I." But if you know Christ, you have been called to consider a new reality. You are not the same person, and therefore you don't have to do the same things you used to do. You have the mind of Christ. Now in theology there is positional truth and practical truth. Positional truth refers to your state before God. Practical truth refers to your lifestyle in light of your state. The Bible calls us to act like the children of God we are. We have the mind of Christ, so let's use it. When I used to jog, I would get up early, hit the road, and run for about five and a half miles. By the end I was drenched with sweat. You really wouldn't have wanted to keep close company with me at that moment. So I would go home and take a shower. I would wash off all the stench and come out smelling good. Now I would have been foolish to put my smelly jogging clothes back on. It would be illogical.

What sense would it make to spend time getting clean, only to go back into the dirt from whence I was cleansed? Let me tell you, if I had come out of the bathroom in my jogging clothes, Lois would have rejected me. Our fellowship would have been seriously interrupted. Why? Because the purpose of the shower was to wash me and introduce me to clean clothes. The Bible says that when you met Jesus, you were washed. You were made pure, and all of your unrighteousness eousness was removed. How can you then go back and put on the dirty clothes of your old self again? It doesn't make sense. That's the point Paul wants you to get. Got it? Think About It When you and I got cleaned up by Christ, He also washed away those old distinctions by which we used to judge each other (v. 11). We all look the same in Him. Got it?