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Put on Christ – The Gospel of Regeneration
Initial Salvation “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” -Gal 3:27 “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.” -Col 3:9-10 |
The scriptures speak of the gospel experience of initial salvation as this: we “have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). All of a regenerate Christian’s present experience of walking in Christ is by “seeing that” “(Col. 3:9) truth – the truth of freedom that Christ purchased by the gospel – namely that, we “have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man” (Col. 3:9-10), already, and now we can walk in Christ freely! Therefore it is written, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him” (Col. 2:6). Now, as a saint has already been mortified but is commanded to mortify himself daily, and as a man has already been risen with Christ but is commanded to live and access realities in and around Christ at His throne, and as a man has already been baptized/endured with power/filled with the fullness of the Spirit of Christ but is commanded to be filled with the fullness of the Spirit daily, so also a man has put on Christ but is commanded to put on Christ daily – this is the Gospel by Command.
Present Progressive Salvation
Present Progressive Salvation
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“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.” -Col 3:12-14
“That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” -Eph 4:22-24 |
Colossians 3:12-14 commands the putting on of “bowels of mercies” which is from “the new man” (Col. 3:10), Who is Christ that lives in them, and in this way they are to do EVERTHING, “in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col. 3:17). The new man is the Spirit of the Living God, Who is our “newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). This putting on is an abiding in, a walking in the Person and inner workings of Christ, called here the “bowels” (Col. 3:12) of the new man, or “the bowels of Jesus” (Php. 1:8), which are “holy and beloved” springs of all the fruits you see listed in those scriptures. Thus, to put on Christ it is also to “put on charity”, establishing perfect unity in all of the body of Christ (Col. 3:14).
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“The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” -Rom 13:12-14
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Romans 13:12-14 commands the putting on of “the armour of Light” which also is Christ; therefore there is a direct reference to this gospel by command saying, “put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ”. All of this is the same burden of God in each epistle, but this specific phraseology of the gospel is most common in these three books of Paul (Col. 3, Rom. 13, Eph. 4). Ephesians 4:22-24 speaks of the old man as the former conversation which a Christian man must, by faith, put off today, and then “put on the new man” which is the creation of God in their souls – “created in righteousness and true holiness”. Now again, to maintain saving faith in the gospel of grace, a man will then maintain obedience to these gospel presentations given by command rather than promise, but if you study these passages carefully, you will find the same need for ever-present and increasing revelation to be given as the saint has a greater view of his own sins next to the righteousness of God, and so the saint will go from glory to glory by keeping faith in the gospel. Perhaps now you will understand that revelation and faith are the two objects of grace which do increase as a saint goes from glory to glory, and then you will understand the burden of these passages below:
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“seeing that ye” (Col. 3:9)
“seeing that ye” (1 Peter 1:22) “But now… put off all these” (Col. 3:8) ”Wherefore putting away” (Eph. 4:25) “Wherefore laying aside” (1 Peter 2:1) “renewed in knowledge” (Col. 3:10) “renewed in the spirit of your mind” (Eph. 4:23) “renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:2) “all things that pertain” (2 Peter 1:3-4). “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places” (Eph. 1:3). |
“wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him” (Eph. 1:19)
“filled with the knowledge of His will… all wisdom and spiritual understanding… increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:9-10). “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord” (2 Peter 3:18) “I pray… love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment” (Php. 1:9-11). “If so be that ye have heard Him, and have been taught by Him” (Eph. 4:20-21). “If so be that ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious” (1 Peter 2:3). “the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord” (Php. 3:8). |
When a man holds fast to the liberty given by the gospel purchase presently and progressively, the man is “seeing that” (Col. 3:9, 1 Pet. 1:22) he has “put off” the old man and “put on” the new man already, and so by faith’s reckoning, he is “renewed” in the “mind” (Col. 3:10,
Eph. 4:23, Rom. 12:2) unto an empowering walk of “putting away” (Eph. 4:25, Col. 3:8) and “laying aside” (1 Pet. 2:1) the evil deeds listed in Col. 3:5, Ephesians 4:25-32, and 1 Peter 2:1: “fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry,” “lying, angry wrath, stealing, corrupt communication, bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, evil speaking, malice,” “malice, guile, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking.” Such a man that walks this way is having the “wisdom, revelation, knowledge, and spiritual understanding” that the apostles are praying for (Eph. 1:19, Col. 1:9-10, 2 Peter 3:18, 1 Php. 1:9-11), and as it increases in measure, so the glories brighten into greater expressions of Christ!
Eph. 4:23, Rom. 12:2) unto an empowering walk of “putting away” (Eph. 4:25, Col. 3:8) and “laying aside” (1 Pet. 2:1) the evil deeds listed in Col. 3:5, Ephesians 4:25-32, and 1 Peter 2:1: “fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry,” “lying, angry wrath, stealing, corrupt communication, bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, evil speaking, malice,” “malice, guile, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking.” Such a man that walks this way is having the “wisdom, revelation, knowledge, and spiritual understanding” that the apostles are praying for (Eph. 1:19, Col. 1:9-10, 2 Peter 3:18, 1 Php. 1:9-11), and as it increases in measure, so the glories brighten into greater expressions of Christ!