Colossians 3:5-11
Notes
So, if I have been ‘crucified with Christ’ (Gal. 2:20), why is temptation so persistent and so intense? It is important to note that Paul writes about our relationship to sin in two ways.
In the first place, he writes about it as though it were an evil tyrant who once ruled over us.
This is what the Puritans called ‘reigning sin’, and sin’s reign is over. It no longer has dominion over the believer (Rom. 6:14). That does not mean, however, that sin has nothing to do with the Christian at all.
In second place, Paul noted that, though no longer in total control, sin retains a foothold in our natures because our physical bodies have not, as yet, been renewed.
To use Puritan language again, there is such a thing as ‘remaining sin’.
Did Paul want his readers to amputate their limbs? In actual fact, Paul did not intend his readers to take the word ‘members’ literally. It is an example of a figure of speech called metonymy, where our members, or limbs and organs, are used to represent the actions that we perform with them. (We use the same sort of figure in everyday speech when we say things like: ‘Don’t give me any of your lip,’
There is a compelling reason why this matters so much. Paul’s use of ‘therefore’ connects this stark command with what has gone before in verses 1–4. Because we have been ‘raised with Christ’ (3:1), because we are no longer the people that we once were, since our life is ‘hidden with Christ’ (3:3) and it is our destiny to appear with Christ at his coming—for all these reasons the remaining sin in our lives must be stamped out.
‘fornication’ translates the Greek ‘porneia’, from which our word ‘pornography’ is derived. It originally had the limited meaning of sex with prostitutes, but by Paul’s day it had come to mean any kind of illicit sexual activity at all, any sexual liaison other than the union of one man and one woman in marriage.
‘Uncleanness’ is a rendering of the Greek ‘akatharsia’.
We can fill our minds with moral pollutants that leave us besmirched and dirty.
‘Passion’ describes what happens when our physical senses are swamped by the urge for fulfilment, and ‘evil desire’ is the state of mind that takes us to that dangerous point.
Behind it all there is the sin of ‘covetousness’.
Covetousness ranges far and wide. If we desire money or things, it can lead to theft. If we want prestige and status, it can lead us to use and exploit other people. If we are eaten up with longing for sexual gratification, it can lead to sexual sin.
It is worth noting also that Paul saw covetousness as being tantamount to ‘idolatry’, as though the two sins were almost one and the same. An idol is a substitute for God and, at heart, the covetous person is a self-worshipper.
This is not an impulsive outburst of anger aimed capriciously at people whom God does not like. It is the settled, determined response of a righteous God against sin
God has various kinds of wrath: 1) eternal wrath, which is hell; 2) eschatological wrath, which is the final Day of the Lord; 3) cataclysmic wrath like the flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; 4) consequential wrath, which is the principle of sowing and reaping; and 5) the wrath of abandonment, which is removing restraint and letting people go to their sins
put … aside. A Gr. word used for taking off clothes (cf. Ac 7:58; Ro 13:12–14; 1Pe 2:1). Like one who removes his dirty clothes at day’s end, believers must discard the filthy garments of their old, sinful lives.
anger. A deep, smoldering bitterness; the settled heart attitude of an angry person (cf. Eph 4:31; Jas 1:19, 20). wrath. Unlike God’s settled and righteous wrath (see note on Ro 1:18), this is a sudden outburst of sinful anger, usually the eruption that flows out of “anger” (see note on Gal 5:20; cf. Lk 4:28; Ac 19:28; Eph 4:31). malice. From the Gr. term that denotes general moral evil. Here it probably refers to the damage caused by evil speech (cf. 1Pe 2:1).
slander. The normal translation when this word refers to God is “blasphemy.” But here, since it refers to people, it is better translated “slander.” To slander people, however, is to blaspheme God (Jas 3:9; cf. Mt 5:22; Jas 3:10).
Because the old man died in Christ, and the new man lives in Christ—because that is the fact of new creation or regeneration (2Co 5:17)—believers must put off remaining sinful deeds and be continually renewed into the Christlikeness to which they are called.
Just like a baby is born complete but immature, the new self is complete, but has the capacity to grow
It is God’s plan that believers become progressively more like Jesus Christ, the one who made them (cf. Ro 8:29; 1Co 15:49; 1Jn 3:2).
Even as individual believers must discard old, sinful habits, the body of Christ must realize its unity and destroy the old barriers that separated people (cf. Gal 3:28; Eph 2:15).
I used to work with a man who took part in the D-Day landings in Normandy in June 1944. He was a soldier in one of the Highland regiments. In the fierce fighting around the city of Caen he came face to face with a German soldier. Each man now had an opportunity to practise his bayonet drill, not against a sack stuffed with straw but against a living, breathing enemy bent on his destruction. The boy in the kilt won. The bayonet on the end of his Lee-Enfield rifle went home with such force that he could only extract it by firing a round into his opponent’s body. It was a matter of kill or be killed. In the same way, Paul wanted his readers to grasp the fact that each Christian must steel himself to the ruthless extermination of spiritual foes that would, given the chance, destroy him.
Imagine a small, picturesque, historic city somewhere in England. Until six months ago everything in City Hall was a shambles. The chief executive was corrupt and lazy. Inefficiency was rife. Everyone, from heads of department down to low-grade clerks and even the tea lady, was out to get as much for themselves as they could. Alarmed by this state of affairs, the City Council insisted that a new chief executive be appointed. Now there is a new broom in charge, someone who means business! Every day a stream of directives goes out to all departments. The problem is that, even though City Hall is now under new management, many of the timeserving petty bureaucrats further down the chain of command are still in place. The new man meets obstruction, procrastination and delay right across the board.
In the same way, the believer’s life is under new management. A new man is in control and has set a new direction. Policy has changed at the highest level, but, lurking in the basement, certain elements loyal to the old management still cause as much trouble as they can.
Just as the new boss at City Hall may have to weed out those members of the old guard who will not conform to the new direction, so the Christian must eradicate certain aspects of his old life. There is no place for sentiment.
Origen of Alexandria, one of the greatest theologians of the early church, took Jesus’ statement that some ‘have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake’ (Matt. 19:12) literally and had himself castrated.
the old man’s wardrobe needs to be discarded too.
The kind of behaviour that was typical of the person the Christian used to be but is no longer should be discarded as decisively as a man with a new suit puts his tattered old one out with the rubbish.
Welsh Revival of 1904
In an eyewitness report of the great Welsh revival of 1904, G. Campbell Morgan wrote, “The horses are terribly puzzled. A manager said to me. ‘The haulers are some of the very lowest. They have driven their horses by obscenity and kicks. Now they can hardly persuade the horses to start working, because there is no obscenity and no kicks.’” - D.J.D.
Our Daily Bread, September 26
It is easier to cry against one-thousand sins of others than to kill one of your own. - John Flavel
The story is told of a young girl who accepted Christ as her Savior and applied for membership in a local church. “Were you a sinner before you received the Lord Jesus into your Life?” inquired an old deacon. “Yes, sir,” she replied. “Well, are you still a sinner?” “To tell you the truth, I feel I’m a greater sinner than ever.” “Then what real change have you experienced?” “I don’t quite know how to explain it,” she said, “except I used to be a sinner running after sin, but now that I am saved I’m a sinner running from sin!” she was received into the fellowship of the church, and she proved by her consistent life that she was truly converted.
I Am Not
I am not what I might be, I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I wish to be, I am not what I hope to be. But I thank God I am not what I once was, and I can say with the great apostle, “By the grace of God I am what I am.”
John Newton
The Emu and Kangaroo
The Australian coat of arms pictures two creatures—the emu, a flightless bird, and the kangaroo. The animals were chosen because they share a characteristic that appealed to the Australian citizens. Both the emu and kangaroo can move only forward, not back. The emu’s three-toed foot causes it to fall if it tries to go backwards, and the kangaroo is prevented from moving in reverse by its large tail. Those who truly choose to follow Jesus become like the emu and kangaroo, moving only forward, never back (Luke 9:62)
Steve Morrison
How Close to Get to Danger?
John 6:67
Preaching Themes: Commitment, Obedience and Disobedience, Reverence
You may have heard the story of the lady who advertised for a coachman and was waited on by three candidates for the situation. She put to the first one this question: “I want a really good coachman to drive my pair of horses. Therefore, I ask you, how near can you drive to danger and still be safe?”
“Well,” he said, “I could drive very near indeed. I could go within a foot of a precipice without fear of any accident so long as I held the reins.” She dismissed him with the remark that he would not do.
To the next one who came she put the same question, “How near could you drive to danger?” Being determined to get the place, he said, “I could drive within a hair’s breadth, and yet skillfully avoid any mishap.” “You will not do,” said she.
When the third one came in, his mind was cast in another mold, so on the question being put to him, “How near could you drive to danger?” he said, “Madam, I never tried. It has always been a rule with me to drive as far from danger as I possibly can.” The lady engaged him at once.
In like manner, I believe that the man who is careful to run no risks and to refrain from all equivocal conduct, having the fear of God in his heart, is most to be relied on. If you are really built on the Rock of Ages, you may meet the question without dismay, “Will you also go away?” You can reply without presumption, “No, Lord, I cannot and I will not leave you; for to whom should I go? You have the words of eternal life.”
