Behave Like Christians Ought to Behave!

A small boy sat in church with his mother and listened to a sermon entitled “What is a Christian?” Every time the minister asked the question, he banged his fist on the pulpit for emphasis.

The tension produced by the sermon built up in the boy and he finally whispered to his mother, “Mama, do you know? Do you know what a Christian is?”

“Yes, dear,” she replied. “Now sit still and be quiet.”

Finally, as the minister was winding up the sermon, he again thundered, “What is a Christian?” and banged especially hard on the pulpit. This time it was too much for the little boy, so he jumped up and cried out, “Tell him, Mama, tell him.”

What Does It Mean To Be A Christian?

Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Christianity, Misconception about

A small boy sat in church with his mother and listened to a sermon entitled “What is a Christian?” Every time the minister asked the question, he banged his fist on the pulpit for emphasis.

The tension produced by the sermon built up in the boy and he finally whispered to his mother, “Mama, do you know? Do you know what a Christian is?”

“Yes, dear,” she replied. “Now sit still and be quiet.”

How would you answer that preacher’s question?…what is a Christian…and if your answer is going to be biblical it is a person who has died to sin in Christ and been raised to new life in Christ…the evidence of which is seen in the pattern of their life.

With that thought in mind please turn to …the person who claims Christ is one whose life MUST show fruit of being in Him…the behavior of our life will reveal the reality of our relationship with Christ…thus we are to Behave Like Christians Ought to Behave!

Our Life Must Progressively Reflect Christ’s Transforming Power.

At the beginning of chapter three we read that those who have died and been raised with him, whose life is hidden in him, who will be revealed with him…now we get to the portion of Paul’s letter that says

Therefore…we are to be transformed by Him…if our hearts and minds are set above it will be evidenced in the patterns of our life.

if our hearts and minds are set above it will be evidenced in the patterns of our life.

How then can we be progressing in living out the transformation Christ brings to our life?

Two keys here...

Execute the Old Self (5-11)

Execute the Old Self

Colossians 3:5 NASB95

Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

This is where the practical side of the truth meets the positional side of the truth...

Paul had already stated we died with Christ…that happened at the moment of salvation...

Romans 6:6 NASB95

knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;

However, that positional reality must be worked out in our lives practically!

There will be no growth in holiness…no spiritual maturity…when sin is left unchecked!

Executing sin is not an option…this is a command…in fact 3x in this text we are commanded to do something in relation to this old nature…, ,

That is why we must continually execute sin by yielding to the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:13 NASB95

for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Sin is like a king without a throne…he no longer reigns and holds no authority to condemn someone…however, he works hard to debilitate and even devastate all his former subjects...

The Spirit uses His Word — the sword of the Spirit is the word of God — … so as a believer grows strong in the Word, they become more skilled at using the Word of God to fight against the evil one…this is important here…when we compare and we understand that being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit is the same as allowing the Word to dwell in you richly…explain this more later....

Zechariah 4:6 NASB95

Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.

The focus here falls primarily on sexual sins…why?

Ephesians 5:18 NASB95

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,

Colossians 3:16 NASB95

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

The Jews often viewed Gentiles as people who had no sexual morals…there is no doubt that in Paul’s day, the Greco-Roman world was very tolerant of sexual conduct, particularly that outside of marriage...

Yes you died in the sense of paying sin’s penalty by being united with Christ in His death, but sin still attacks our unredeemed humanness,

our flesh…this outward shell that we see is unredeemed, it is flawed, it is cursed by sin and it is weak...

our spirit…the inner part we do not see is completely redeemed, it is empowered by the Holy Spirit and is in a battle with the flesh..so until this outward body is completely redeemed, our inner spirit must go to war with the flesh and we must kill the sin that is attacking our flesh.

Executing sin is not an option…this is a command…in fact 3x in this text we are commanded to do something in relation to this old nature…, ,

Colossians 3:5 NASB95

Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

Colossians 3:8 NASB95

But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.

Colossians 3:9 NASB95

Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

Consider…as dead = literally means “kill, put to death, execute, mortify”…this is to be a decisive resolution to put it death…bring your flesh under subjection to the Spirit-filled new nature.

I think in this text, the ESV, NKJV, KJV, NIV are stronger translations…don’t just consider the members of your body dead, kill them...

Paul is calling for us to radically exterminate everything in our life that leads us away from godliness…Radical Amputation…Jesus says in & that if our right eye or right hand causes us to stumble we are to pluck it out, cut it off…

Paul’s point here is that the unredeemed, fleshly body will do what the inner disposition of the heart wants it to do…

if your body is controlled by the fleshly, old nature you will do what it wants...

The desire of our new man to live pleasing to God is held back because of our sinful flesh with its life patterns and habits that must be executed.

if your body is controlled by the Spirit…you will do what He wants…

Paul’s point here is that the body will do what the inner disposition of the heart wants it to do…if your body is controlled by the Spirit…you must do what is good…until we see Christ, this will be our lot this side of heaven.

until we see Christ, this will be our lot this side of heaven…

so we have a responsibility to kill the old nature, to execute it along with the sins that plague it...

Paul gives us two sample lists of sins to kill…these are some of the most common and troubling sins believers face…this is not an exhaustive list…but the principle is still the same…Paul also uses this same formula in

Here are some interesting characteristics of these lists to note...

that the first list begins with actions and progresses to motives…while the second list begins with motives and progresses to actions…

the first list is personal sin…the second is social…

sandwiched between these lists are reasons these need to be put to death...

A. Put off Personal Sin

Paul moves backwards from the evil act to the underlying motive here…immorality, the evil act happens because there is impurity in the heart. There is impurity in the heart because there is a perverted passion and evil desire at work. Perverted passion and evil desire are at work because the root of the sin is greed, which is idolatry!

Immorality = acts of sexual sin

porneia…pornography is derived from this word along with graphe (writing), pornography is a writing about sexual sin...

Originally referred to prostitution but its usage in the NT is broadened to include any form of illicit sex.

The biblical mandate of our sexuality forbids any sexual activity outside the bond of marriage…and it also forbids sexual activity outside the union of a man and a woman…

Marriage is to be only between man and woman.

Sexual activity is only to occur in the bonds of marriage of husband and wife…male and female…God’s will for your sanctification is to abstain from sexual immorality…if you are involved in any sexual activity outside the bonds of marriage you are acting outside God’s will for your life, and that has a direct impact on the sanctification process...

1 Thessalonians 4:3 NASB95

For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;

The biblical view of immorality is summed up in 3

Impurity = uncleanness, goes to the intentions of the mind

1 Thessalonians 4:3 NASB95

For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;

1 Thessalonians 4:13 NASB95

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

Impurity = uncleanness, goes to the intentions of the mind

goes beyond the act and refers to the heart…not only must we put to death the physical acts of immorality, we must execute the DESIRE for those acts...

Matthew 5:28 NASB95

but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Passion/evil desires = sexual passion set loose in the body/sexual lust created in the mind.

there is not a lot of distinction between these two words…perhaps it is best to see this as two sides of the same coin…passion being the physical side and evil desires being the mental side…both must be executed...

Greed = insatiable desire to have more

Pleonexia (greed) comes from two words…pleon — more, and exo — to have…it is that desire to have more that causes fights and quarrels according to

It amounts to idolatry because it places selfish desire over obedience to God…every sin comes from a greedy, pride filled heart that is selfish…it is the worship of self, instead of the worship of God...

Whether it is sexual sin or not, our choice to sin is a choice to get what we want regardless of what God says…that is idolatry…YOU RULE instead of GOD RULES

At the very moment we choose to sin, what we desire means more to us than what God desires. We worship ourselves more than we worship God and that is idolatry.

Whatever sin is plaguing you right now, whether it is sexual sin or something completely different, the root of that sin is a selfish, pride-filled and greedy heart.

Ephesians 5:3–5 NASB95

But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

So if we want to gain victory, we have to first go after the root of our problem…GREED…IDOLATRY…

B. Reasons To Put Off Sin

Sexual activity

before moving on to his second list, he stops and gives two strong reasons that ought to motivate us...

B. Reasons To Put Off Sin

Sin brings God’s judgment.

Colossians 3:6 NASB95

For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,

Wrath is God’s constant disposition towards sin…unbelievers will experience this full force…Paul writes this in such a way that it communicates that the coming of the wrath of God is certain, it is as if that wrath has already arrived.

Romans 2:5 NASB95

But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

Because of these things…the sins Paul mentioned here typify sin in general…as God’s children we should not want to have any part in that which brings God’s wrath...

As believers we have been delivered from the wrath to come — ;

1 Thessalonians 2:10 NASB95

You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers;

Paul is not saying that if we sin we will experience God in his furious wrath, but rather those who belong to Christ, who love Him, those who are united with Him would not want to participate in those kinds of behaviors…children of God should not want to act like children of wrath...

we will not experience God’s wrath —

1 Thessalonians 5:9 NASB95

For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

However, we are subject to God’s discipline… … God will react to your sin, to my sin, either way, those who pursue sin will suffer the consequences.

Second reason is...

Sin is a part of the believer’s past.

Colossians 3:7 NASB95

and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.

Walking = behavior, living = disposition...

You know what it was like to live in darkness, you know what it was like to be shackled to your sin, you hated it and that is why you came to Christ.

It would be like learning to walk and decide you’d rather crawl…it would be like amassing a fortune and then go live in the slums in poverty…it makes no sense…we are freed from sin’s bondage, why would we want to be shackled by it again?

C. Put off Social Sin

The sins in this list are sins committed against people…your sin doesn’t just impact you, it impacts others...

Paul reverses the list by starting with the motive and progressing to the actions…the progression is anger wells up in the heart and progresses through the various stages to the bitter outward expression of abusive words...

Colossians 3:8 NASB95

But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.

Put aside — taking off clothes…take off the dirty clothes at the end of the day…discard the filthy rags of our old life…clothing was often used as a figure of speech denoting character...

Anger — smoldering, resentful bitterness.

Wrath — explosions of anger

Malice — moral evil, the desire to bring harm to people

Slander — blasphemy of others

Abusive speech — obscene and derogatory speech intended to hurt and wound someone

Colossians 3:9 NASB95

Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

Lying — characterizes Satan, not God.

and when we lie we imitate Satan, not our Father. Believers should be known for telling the truth!

Colossians 3:9–11 NASB95

Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him— a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

Colossians 3:9 NASB95

Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

Colossians 3:9 NASB95

Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

The point Paul makes here is that you already laid that old man aside the moment you trusted Christ…you exchanged the old for the new…it just makes sense now that you would live in the new man…

The point Paul makes here is that you already laid that old man aside the moment you trusted Christ…you exchanged the old for the new…it just makes sense now that you would live in it...

Put On the New Self (10-14)

Uniforms communicate a profession…police officers, athletes, bus drivers, etc. all wear uniforms indicating this is what they do…

Believers too have a uniform…it is the new man…at the end of the day we remove the uniform of our earthly profession, but as believers we are to never remove this uniform…in other words...

Living in the new man is to be a constant state of existence for the believer…we have taken off the uniform of the old man and put on the uniform of the new man…that uniform is the uniform that trumps all other uniforms…

That is Paul’s point here…Christians must dress themselves spiritually in the uniform that communicates their new identity…you have died with Christ and risen to new life...

Believer has a two sided obligation...

Negative = throw off the uniform of the old, sinful lifestyle

Positive = put on the uniform of the new, holy lifestyle...

Colossians 3:9–10 NASB95

What does this text say about this new life?

A. This is a lifestyle of progression in Christ.

Colossians 3:9–10 NASB95

As we said, since you already laid the old man aside at salvation, you are to pick up the clothes of the new man and live in them...

This does not mean instant spiritual maturity…your flesh will continually want to put on those old clothes again…your flesh is unredeemed, it is still cursed by sin…but this new man has the ability to grow stronger every day in that battle so that it can cope with the decaying outer man… states that our inner man is being renewed day by day…Progressive Sanctification

Being renewed = new in quality…this is a new quality of life that never existed before…this new self is continually being renewed by God…how?

Through deep knowledge…epignosis…deep, thorough knowledge…the process of renewal brings increased knowledge…there will be no growth in you if there is no progression in your knowledge of God…His Word provides that knowledge…; ; ; (like babies we are to long for the word of God that we may grow).

God’s goal for us is to see the image of His Son become progressively more consistent on a daily basis… (…he predestined his children to be conformed to his son)…the hope for our lives is that this progression of holiness will reach perfection in glory!

1 John 3:2 NASB95

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.

B. This is a lifestyle of partnership in the Church.

Colossians 3:11 NASB95

a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

Colossians 3:11–12 NASB95

a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;

The old barriers that separated people are also gone…there is no place in the church for racism or snobbery…God has united all believers in Christ…

B. This is a lifestyle of partnership with Christ

This was quite radical for the 1st century church…sadly it still seems that believers have tendencies to not be as accepting of others as they ought to be...

Greek/Jew — no longer a racial barrier

Jews and Gentiles would not eat together, would not visit each other in their homes…Jews would not even eat meat prepared by a Gentile butcher…

Circumcised/Uncircumcised — no longer a religious barrier

The Apostles were reluctant to accept Gentiles as equal partners in the church and vice versa...

The gospel breaks down those barriers...

Barbarian/Scythian — no longer a cultural barrier

barbarian — onomatopoeia — used to describe people who were inarticulate and stammered in their speech

Scythian — were feared…the were a nomadic warlike people who were notorious for savagery…

historical records of the day state that they drank the blood of the first enemy killed, made napkins of their scalps and drinking bowls from the skulls of the slain...

To fellowship with people like this was unfathomable, yet that is what happened in the church…Christ demolishes the cultural barriers...

Slave/freeman — no longer a social barrier

Slaves and owners become brothers in Christ

There is no need for man-made barriers in the church because Christ indwells all believers…we are all united into one new man!

Ephesians 2:15 NASB95

by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,

In Christ all believers are equal, so we need to stop rebuilding the walls that Jesus gave his life to destroy!

In Christ all believers are equal, so stop rebuilding the walls that Jesus gave his life to destroy!

C. This is a lifestyle of practice that displays Christ.

Ephesians 2:12–13 NASB95

remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Colossians 3:12–13 NASB95

So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

C. This is a lifestyle of practicality that displays Christ

Believers have been chosen by God, not because of the good we do, but according to his own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity ().

As a result of God’s choosing we are now holy and beloved…set apart and objects of his special love…God’s choice of us is unexplainable in reasonable terms…Scripture clearly teaches it… God’s election of us ought to motivate us towards a heart filled with joy and overflowing… we ought to want to put on the clothes of the new man...

Heart of Compassion — deep, gut-level feeling of compassion…means we are not going to be indifferent to suffering and should show a concern for meeting people’s needs.

Kindness — grace that pervades the whole person…mellowing all that might be harsh…Jesus used this same word to describe his yoke is easy in …concerned about your neighbor’s good as you are your own…like that of the Good Samaritan

Humility — this is the antidote for self-love that poisons our relationships...

Gentleness — not weakness or spinelessness, but rather a willingness to suffer injury instead of inflicting it…this is evident in the person who knows they are a sinner among sinners and is willing to suffer the burdens others’ sins may impose on him…this can only be produced by the Holy Spirit…should mark us at all times!

Patience — does not get angry with others…it is the opposite of resentment and revenge…think about this…without God’s patience with you, you would not be saved! ()

Bearing with one another — endure, to hold out in spite of persecution, threats, injury, indifference or complaints and not retaliate...

Forgiving one another — word here literally means “be gracious”…Christ is our model…because He has forgiven so much in us…even when someone else is at fault...because it was your fault, my fault that Jesus had to die!

Loving Unity — this is the belt that holds all these things together…love is the most important virtue we are to display…without love for one another there will be no unity…without love, there will be no gentleness or bearing with one another or forgiveness...

Love dispels the ugly sins of the flesh that destroys unity!

D. This is a lifestyle dedicated to pleasing Christ.

Colossians 3:15–17 NASB95

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

These are all priorities that ought to characterize our life…

Colossians 3:15 NASB95

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.

Let peace be the umpire in your relationships — includes both the concept of an agreement and an attitude of rest…we are at peace with God now we can rest in him…it is Christ’s peace

Rule - word used to describe an umpire that decided the outcome of an athletic contest…peace of Christ guides our decisions…

word of caution…be careful not to manufacture peace…we can be at peace with sin…sometimes we can make decisions that provide greater comfort at the moment and make ourselves believe this is peace from God… God will never give you peace to violate His Word!

so we must make sure that our decisions line up with that which glorifies God the most and places us in the best position to serve Him more faithfully…

sometimes the best decision is not always the most comfortable decision to make (peace will be lacking)...

This is also relational…believers are called to live in peace with one another…in one body…so if you are at peace with Christ you will live in unity and harmony with one another.

Must be thankful…being grateful for all God has done for us will inevitably affect our relationships with others.

Let God’s Word be at home in your heart

Colossians 3:16 NASB95

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Dwell = to live in, to be at home… we are to let the Word of God take up residence in our lives…

Richly…abundantly, extravagantly rich…the word of God is to permeate every aspect of our lives…govern every thought, word and deed…when this happens we will teach (impart truth) and admonish (warn)…we will use the Word of God to bring truth to each other and warn each other about the consequences of a life that is contrary to God...

It also produces emotion…a heart that wants to sing…sadly we have made music an expression of our preferences instead of it being a natural outflow of our heart that is overflowing with God’s Word

…psalms, hymns and spiritual songs are ways in which we ascribe our praise to God and we do that we speak to one another regarding what we find in our relationship with Him...

Thankfulness - chariti — scholars are divided as to whether this word should be translated as thankfulness (NASB, ESV, NIV) or grace (KJV, NKJV)…perhaps both are encompassed here…believers sing out of thankfulness for God’s grace!

In your heart does not mean not to sing with your voice…the concern here is that your heart and mouth agree…Sing to God as praise and worship offered to Him for His pleasure and glory which will edify the believer as a byproduct.

Do everything for his glory

Colossians 3:17 NASB95

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

This is the simplest, most basic rule for life…do everything in the name of Christ…everything you do in His name is to act consistently with who He is and what He wants.