When we come to Christ, we receive a new identity, but God’s work in us doesn’t stop there. Colossians 3:10 describes the ongoing process of being renewed in Christ, in the image of our Creator. What does this renewal look like, and how does it relate to the finished work of the cross? The good news is that we don’t have to earn God’s acceptance through transformation. Instead, we are transformed because of what Jesus has already accomplished for us.
Colossians 3:10 is a beautiful picture of what happens when Christ begins to reshape a person’s life. Paul says that believers have “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creation” (NIV).
What strikes me is the phrase “being renewed.” Paul isn’t describing a one -time makeover but an ongoing work of God. When we come to Christ, we receive a new identity, but then the Holy Spirit continually works that new identity deeper into the way we think, speak, love, and live. The goal isn’t simply to become a nicer version of ourselves – it is to increasingly become like the One who created us. There is a restoration taking place: Christ is recovering in us something that sin has distorted.
Colossians 3:10, is about “being renewed” as an ongoing process of apprenticeship to Jesus. God is changing us from the inside out – our thoughts, desires, attitudes, habits, and ultimately our character. We cooperate with Grace through practices such as prayer, Scripture, solitude, worship, and obedience, but GOD is the one doing the transforming work. The goal isn’t simply to know more about Christ; it is to become increasingly like Him.
The finished work of the cross is the foundation of the ongoing work of renewal in Colossians 3:10.
The finished work of the cross is the foundation of the ongoing work of renewal in Colossians 3:10.At the cross, Jesus accomplished something we could never accomplish for ourselves. Our sin was dealt with, we were reconciled to God, and in Christ we were given a New Identity. There is nothing we can add to Christ’s finished work to make ourselves more accepted by God. Our standing is settled!
But Colossians 3:10 speaks about what happens because the work is settled: “the new self … is being renewed.” In other words, God isn’t renewing us so that we can become accepted; He is renewing us because, in Christ, we already are accepted.
We place ourselves before God so that His life can increasingly become evident in us. The cross deals with the guilt and separation of sin, while the Spirit’s ongoing work deals with the power and patterns of sin in our lives.
So there is no contradiction between “It is finished” and “Being renewed.”
The cross says: “It is finished.” Colossians 3:10 says:
Now let me make you into the person that finished work has made possible.
Or, put another way:
We don’t work for what Jesus finished; we work from what Jesus finished.
This raises an important question:
Are you striving to earn God’s acceptance, or are you allowing His Spirit to transform your life because you are already accepted in Christ?
That is an important distinction. Our transformation isn’t an attempt to complete the cross; it is the fruit of the cross. And ultimately, even our transformation is a work of God’s grace in us.
Grace gives us our Position in Christ.
The Spirit works that reality into our daily lives. And Colossians 3:10 reminds us that God is patient and faithful in that process.
Good News Only! OUR GOD IS A BIG GOD!
Blessings! Gerry
