Nuggets from Countdown to the Second Coming—The Standard and Power (Part 2) | thebereancall.org

Dave Hunt

Paul did not impose upon the Colossian believers, or upon us today, a strict moral code that we must struggle to live up to in our own strength. The key to living the Christian life is found in one word in verses 5 and 12: therefore. “Mortify therefore” the sins of the flesh. “Put on therefore” the holiness and graces of Christ. Whatever therefore refers to, it gives both the reason for obedience and the power to obey. To what, then, does it allude? The answer is found in the preceding verses:

If [since] ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore.... Put on therefore…. (Colossians:3:1-4)