What is the main point of this passage? Paul gives us a great list of what Christian life should look like: submitting to authority, obedient, humble, kind, courteous, etc. Then he moves on to explain why we shouldn't be obsessed with ourselves and caught up with pride...we were once like that and it didn't turn out well! Arrogant sinfulness and self-obsession once controlled our lives and made them garbage, yet God stepped into the equation and redeemed us - not because of anything we had done - but because God is merciful and loving. We were washed clean by the blood of Christ and remade through the Holy Spirit of God, and because of that we should treat other people with the same kind of loving mercy that God gave us.
What part of the passage spoke most deeply to you? I really like the imagery that verse 5 brought to mind for me...in the ESV is says, (we were saved)"by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit." We were in Memphis this week on a youth group mission trip and we had to do some wound cleaning from time to time. When a student gets a nasty cut, we first wash it out and then put anti-biotic so that it can heal without infection. In the same way, the sinfulness in our lives is like an infected wound...if left alone it will fester and get worse and destroy our life. Yet the sacrifice of Jesus provides the ultimate cleanser for the corruption that sin brought on...his blood was poured out so that we might experience new life...so that the filth of sin would be washed away. And once the wound is clean, the Holy Spirit of God rushes in to begin the renewal process...the rebuilding...the reshaping of a life that was once wounded and is now healing.
What do these verses challenge you to do, and what steps are you going to take to meet that challenge? I always need to be reminded about the incredible graciousness of God. There are times when I have a hard time treating other people with the same kind of grace that God offers me. I feel really challenged to focus on controlling my thoughts when it comes to the way that I perceive other people. There are times when evil needs to be confronted and addressed head on, but the struggles I have with judging others do not usually take the form of verbal confrontation. I usually just internally cast judgment on other people and allow myself to get bitter, angry, cynical about the state of the world and the people in it. While there is plenty of screwed up stuff going on in the world...I have to remind myself that I am one of the people that causes some of those things...I am a sinful human being who has been forgiven and transformed ONLY through the gracious love of God. I am infinitely in His debt and it seems to me that refusing to offer others the same kind of mercy that God offers me, is a poor way to honor His love.
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