Putting on Christ

We often hear that as Christians, we are to "put on Christ" (Galatians 3:27). What exactly does that mean? "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof" (Romans 13:14). Throughout his letter to the Romans, Paul pleas with the saints to totally transform their lives (Romans 1:21-32; 8:4-8; 12:1, 2; 13:11-14, etc.). He says, ”it's about molding your life after Jesus Christ"! In the sermon on the mount, Christ told us some things that must be evident in our lives. Let's take a look at a few of those and how Jesus used them in His life:

“Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Matthew 5:4). Jesus was not one who generally had a spirit of mourning. In Luke 15, Jesus made it clear that everyone's spiritual condition is important to Him. He rejoices over just one penitent sinner (Luke 15:7, 10)! If He never wants to let us go (John 10:28), it must give Him exceeding pain and sorrow when we choose to sin and separate ourselves from Him. If there was something Christ ever mourned over, it was sin. Some people's hearts are so hardened to sin they wouldn't know it if it slapped them in the face! We should have deep sorrow when we look at the world and especially our own lives and see sin. This attitude will cause us to want to fix the problem (Acts 2:37). The comfort comes from knowing there is something we can do about it (Acts 2:38; Romans 6:1-4)! There needs to be more people who mourn over sin.

"Blessed are them which do hunger and thirst for righteousness..." (Matthew 5:6). When Jesus was twelve, He and His family traveled to Jerusalem for the passover. After it was over, His family left. A day into the journey they realized Jesus was not with them. They returned to Jerusalem and found Him in the temple listening and asking questions. When they asked Him why He was not with them He told them they should have known He would be “about His Father's business“ (Luke 2:42-49). It should be a given that no matter where we are or what we are doing, we are probably doing something to fulfill our service to the Lord. It was evident in the church at Corinth that ”in every place“ they were doing the Lord's will (1 Corinthians 1:2). Do we, like Christ, desire to serve God our every waking moment? Think about it.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). Jesus never sinned His entire life (2 Corinthians 5:21). Why do you think that is? I can tell you why. Jesus was a pure thinker. He gave no thought whatsoever to sin! Jesus was tempted just like we are today. We can see that the devil came to Him specifically three times. Christ declined every temptation leaving no room “to fulfill the lusts thereof” (Matthew 4:1-10, Romans 13:14). Paul sums up how to put on Christ in his letter to Titus: "Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world" (Titus 2:12). We need to be more like Jesus. We can do that by studying His Word and molding our lives after Him.

Heath Robertson
October 2007