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What Does It Look Like to “Put On” Patience?
Pursue Patience
Patience is a virtue, they say, and it is a virtue Paul urges us to pursue: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Col. 3:12). Paul probably uses a clothing metaphor in this verse. We are to “put on” patience like a new set of clothes. Here, I explore where we got these new clothes (the origin of patience), what the clothes are made of (the substance of patience), and how they look on us (the result of patience).
The Origin of Patience
Where did these new clothes come from, or if we don’t have them, how can we get them? We must first recognize that these are not our own clothes but rather the clothes of Christ. I’m sure most of us can recall times in which we have not exhibited patience toward other people. We have shown ourselves to be what Paul calls, in this context, the old self or the old man (Col. 3:9)—that is, who we are in Adam. As children of Adam, we have participated in the evil of fallen humanity. But as believers in Christ, Paul says, “you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Col. 3:10). That is, we have put off who we were in Adam and put on who we are—and who we are becoming—in Christ.
So, have we already put on the clothes of Christ, or do we need to still put on the clothes of Christ? Paul’s answer is “yes.” Here we see one of the best examples of what New Testament scholars call the “indicative and imperative” in Paul. Paul will sometimes speak of the same thing paradoxically as both an indicative reality and an imperative command: “you . . . have put on the new self” (Col. 3:10); “Put on then . . .” (Col. 3:12). So it is true both that believers have put on the clothes of Christ and that we must therefore put on the clothes of Christ by pursuing patience.
Hidden with Christ in God
Kevin W. McFadden
In Hidden with Christ in God, author Kevin W. McFadden examines the theology and themes of Colossians and Philemon to teach believers the hidden hope of Christ and what it means to live a Christ-centered life.
My point, though, is that we must recognize that these clothes do not belong to us. To put it in modern terms, Paul is not calling us to be the best version of ourselves. He’s calling us to renounce ourselves—to take off our own clothes and to put on the clothes of Christ. The wonder is that believers can do this because we are united with the crucified and risen Christ by faith. This means we can now live out his new life by pursuing the virtue of patience.
The Substance of Patience
What is this patience we are to pursue? The Greek word Paul uses (macrothumia) is memorably translated “longsuffering” in the King James Version. Paul can use this word more broadly to speak of the patience we must have to wait for our heavenly inheritance: “May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Col. 1:11, my emphasis). But in Colossians 3:12 the word refers especially to our patience and longsuffering with one another in the church.
This patience is exemplified for us by Jesus Christ. In the Gospels, he is patient with his disciples, he is patient with the crowds, and he is even patient with his enemies. Yes, he was willing to rebuke his enemies when needed, but he reserved his clearest rebuke for the very end of his ministry (Matt. 23:1–36). He was like God, who is “slow to anger” (Ex. 34:6). In fact, his patience was the very patience of God, for he is the very image of God (Col. 1:15). And his patience lingers still, for he has not yet returned to judge the world (cf. Matt. 25:31–46). He is delaying his wrath and righteous judgment to give us an opportunity for repentance (cf. Rom. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9).
The patience we must pursue should also look like God’s patience, for in Christ we are being remade into the image of God (Col. 3:10). He is making us into a new creation in Christ, and at the heart of this new creation is patience and forbearance with one another. The clothes that we have been given in Christ are new-creation clothes, and they will look different than the clothes of fallen human society.
Patience is a virtue that can only come from the new-creation clothes of Christ.
The Result of Patience
In Col. 3:13, Paul spells out the results of patience, showing us what this virtue looks like on the ground: “bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” What should the patience of Christ look like in the church?
First, Paul says we must bear with one another. The verb “bearing with one another” can be helpfully translated “putting up with one another” (the Greek word is literally “have up,” anechō). Our fellow believers have many quirks and faults that we must simply put up with. (News flash: so do we.) The patience of Christ enables us to bear with one another. We must bear with one another’s different preferences, like the way that annoying person behind you sings in church. We must also bear with one another’s faults, like that insensitive thing someone said to you in small group. Patience looks like putting up with these things. Paul is calling us to Christian tolerance—not a worldly tolerance of clear sin or false teaching, but a godly tolerance of the quirks and faults of others.
Second, Paul says we must forgive each other. Sometimes believers sin against each other in a clear way, like bearing false witness or committing adultery. The translation “complaint” in Col. 3:13 can be misleading because it might lead us to think Paul is speaking about preferences when he is really speaking about sin. Sometimes a believer has a moral complaint against another because that person has sinned against them. In these cases, we are called to forgive each other, to let go of the moral debt that has occurred. And our model of forgiveness is the Lord Jesus himself: “as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
Some pastors and teachers think that this forgiveness is unconditional. Others think that genuine forgiveness requires repentance on the part of the offender. In my judgment, this latter view better fits Paul’s argument in which the Lord’s forgiveness is our model. The Lord does not forgive unrepentant sinners but repentant sinners. The church, then, must be a place where repentance and forgiveness are patiently pursued and offered in cases of clear moral violation (spelled out for us in God’s law). This is easier said than done. It requires the new clothes of Christ. But even where forgiveness has not occurred, we can still pursue the virtue of patience, for we can wait and pray for it as we also await Christ to come back and make all things right.
Conclusion
Patience is a virtue. But if we try to be the best version of ourselves, all we will have is virtue signaling. Patience is a virtue that can only come from the new-creation clothes of Christ. As we who believe in Christ pursue the virtue of patience, he will enable us to bear with one another and forgive each other, as the Lord has forgiven us. May the Lord continue his new-creation work among us, and may we continue to walk in him!
Kevin McFadden is the author of Hidden with Christ in God: A Theology of Colossians and Philemon.
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