A Time to Kill

KILL OR BE KILLED

Over the last 18 years, there really hasn’t been a large military conflict our country has been directly involved in. Sure, you might say, “What about Iraq?”, but even that hasn’t escalated to the point of bringing back the draft to get more soldiers. You might also say, “What about the terrorists?”, but terrorist attacks haven’t been frequent enough to cause any of us to alter the way we live our lives, or fear for our safety on a regular basis. All things being said, our safety from outside threats is better than its ever been! That’s pretty sweet! We’re allowed to be thankful for that. But, even the NSA can’t protect us from the most dangerous terrorist out there: our own hearts… our own hearts.

Think about it! The biggest threat to your physical life… and the biggest threat to your spiritual life… is you. What do I mean by that? Sin kills!

James 1:15 NASB95

15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

I know these things are elementary for most of us, but how often do we really think about the implications of passages like ? Remember what James says right before that in verse 14?

James 1:14 NASB95

14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

So we’ve got a problem on our hands, don’t we? We know sin kills, but based on what James is saying here in verse 14, we’re predisposed to sin. Which means, we’re fighting a losing battle. Which means, each one of us is probably going to end up dying! That’s no fun.

So what’s the solution? For starters, I know that everyone in this room has sinned at least once, so living a life without sin is off the table! So if we can’t just not sin, then what are we to do?

Well, the only option left is to fight sin. However, that’s a privilege that’s set apart by God and only for those who believe in His Son, Christ Jesus. This is the exact same privilege that the apostle Paul set before the early church in his letter to the Colossians.

ad

On the heels of reaffirming the stability of their core convictions in the 1st chapter, before rebuking the source of their core confusions in the 2nd chapter, Paul is now relaying the scope of their core charges here in the 3rd chapter. If you guys remember from a few weeks ago, Paul’s first charge to the Colossians was to seek the things of heaven in verse 1. Then, in verse 2, his second charge was to set your mind on the things of heaven. Jump down to where we’ve been since last week in verse 5.

Now, in light of the heavenly realities of life in Christ from verses 3-4, Paul gives a new and third charge to the Colossians: put to death the members of your earthly body. Or, in simpler words, put to death all that is earthly in you… Put to death your sin.

In this passage, we get a how-to manual from Scripture on how to battle sin God’s way. According to the Bible, we don’t just fight sin. We kill it.

Last time, we took an extensive look at the lay of the land in verse 5. We studied in detail the progression of vices that Paul put on the Christian’s hit list. This time, I want us to look at all of verses 5-7 in context, and Lord willing, we’ll leave here tonight ready to use the spiritual tools we have in Christ to not just expose sin, but to execute it as well.

So - in , Paul gives the Colossians two motivations to kill sin: sin must die, or we will die… sin must die, or we will die. Follow along as I read.

Colossians 3:5–7 NASB95

5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, 7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.

SIN MUST DIE... ()

INTERPRETATION

In verse 5, we find now the first motivation to kill sin: sin must die… it must die. Look at the text again:

“Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead...”

Last time, we spent a brief moment covering this first clause here, but tonight, we’re gonna camp out on it for a while because it’s the crux of the entire passage! Everything in these 3 verses flows out of what Paul says to open verse 5.

Notice the “Therefore”. With this logical transition, Paul is building on what he’s already stated earlier in the chapter from the first four verses. Everything that he is about to say is to be carried out because of what he just finished writing earlier!

So right off the back, Paul is saying that, “if you’ve been raised with Christ, then your life is now hidden with Him. And if your life is now hidden with Him, then go put to death all that is earthly in you.”

Which brings us to the second key word in this clause: “consider”. For the first time in forever, the ESV actually got it better than the NASB! Relax, I’m just joking. I love the ESV. Jokes aside though, there’s nothing funny about Paul’s charge to the Colossians here. “Why so serious” all of a sudden? Because Paul is trying to help the Colossians understand that Wordly living and worldly living simply cannot, must not, and will not go together.

Those of you using the NASB have this clause translated as “therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to...” That wording can be a bit confusing because it makes it seem like Paul is just talking about a mental determination, kind of like his charge to set your mind on the things above in verse 2. But, this would be much better translated as “put to death your members that are from the earth.” Big difference. We’ll come back to that verb “put to death” in a moment, but just briefly, look at the rest of what Paul says here:

“…members that are from the earth...”

This sounds confusing and clunky, but elsewhere, Paul brings out this same idea when talking about the war against sin.

Romans 6:13 NASB95

13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

Rom.

Romans 7:5 NASB95

5 For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.

Romans 7:23 NASB95

23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.

James 4:1 NASB95

1 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?

So we can conclude then, Paul is saying, “Colossians! There is a war going on inside of you as we speak. You must put to death the deeds of the flesh so that you may produce fruit for life, not fruit for death!”

So we can conclude then, Paul is saying, “Colossians! There is a war going on inside of you as we speak.

And can I just say this real quickly - friends, how often do we attribute the cause of our sin struggles to outside sources? What do I mean by that?

For example… we’re so quick to say, “the devil’s doing this”, or “the devil’s doing that”, or “look at what the world is pushing”, and “see what the world is putting on display”. I’m not denying that the devil and his forces and the world that is under his control are actively seeking to destroy our faith. Scripture is clear about that. However, let’s not forget that the devil has a sleeper cell agent inside of each one of us: our sinful hearts.

With that in mind, let’s think a bit more critically: do I have a besetting sin that I’m struggling to put down? Is there a specific sin that is kicking my tail? Well, the first question I’d ask myself is, “Am I being honest”… “Am I being honest?”

Am I being honest about how much I’m struggling to put down this sin? A lot of times, we don’t gain any traction because we use mealy-mouthed language when we confess our sin to God or when we seek counsel from a discipler. It’s because we’re ashamed! We’re afraid! We’re hiding! That’s a sin that goes back to the garden. But in contrast, how do we talk about our sin in a way that’s pleasing to God? By confessing our sin and talking about our sin using biblical language, not worldly language.

Am I being honest about why I’m struggling to put down this sin? A lot of times, we don’t gain any traction because we don’t really want to stop sinning in certain areas because it’s comfortable! Because it’s what we know! Dare I even say… because we like it? The main reason we sin in general is because we want to and because we like it. So if you’re a believer, you’re sinning by choice! Life doesn’t have to be this way! But if you’re not, then you’re sinning by choice! But, there is no other option because you love your sin and you are enslaved to your sin, unless God gives you a new heart. So, how do we put down our sin in a way that’s pleasing to God? By confronting the ugly reasons we return to that sin and doing battle there rather than the surface level.

Back to verse 5 now. I said we were going to come back to this word “put to death”, and I’m a man of my word… or should I say, a man of my verbs?.... Sorry, that was lame. Moving on.

“Put to death” here is the crux of the entire passage. Everything flows out of this command to kill. The structure of it tells us that Paul wanted the Colossians to be killing sin right now, at this very moment. It also tells us that the Colossians are the ones who actually have to do it. And, it tells us that the Colossians must kill sin because it’s a command from God through the words of Paul.

So, we can understand it like this: the Colossians weren’t supposed to just scold their sin, or slap it on the wrist - they were to murder it. And what sins were at the top of the list? Immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which is nothing but idolatry.

Romans 6:6 NASB95

6 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;

Romans 8:13 NASB95

13 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.

Galatians 5:24 NASB95

24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

IMPLICATION

In older English, they translated that same verb as “mortify” rather than “put to death”. I like that a lot. Why? This verb, nekrosate, was used pretty commonly among doctors and physicians to talk about “the atrophy of a part of the body through sickness.” Let’s take that and apply it to the context of our passage.

Now, the Colossians were eager to follow Christ, but they were prone to extremes. We all know those people, right? I’m one of them. You tell them to think more carefully when they speak, and they make a vow to never speak again in a conversation. You let them know they should probably evaluate their friend group, and the next thing you know, they cut off all their friends like chop liver and don’t plan on talking to them ever again. Then you meet up with these people and you’re like, “man, what happened???” And they say, “I’m just following your advice!” And you say, “That’s not at all what I meant.” The Colossians were those people!

But I think it’s a helpful lesson for us to think through, even if you’re not someone who’s prone to going to extremes. The reality is, jumping from one end of the spectrum to the other in any realm of life is a matter of self-will… a matter of self-will.

You see, it doesn’t require any heart change to be an extremist. It’s just an outlet to avoid having to actually deal with my sin in certain areas! That’s why Paul writes what he writes here in verse 5. He wants to confront their tendency to battle sin their own way by charging them to battle sin God’s way.

So friends, in what ways are we battling sin God’s way? How prone are we to going to extremes when sin pops up in our lives? An elder at my former church told me something two years ago that I’ll never forget. I was sharing with him how I was struggling to battle my pride in a more prominent position at work and in ministry, and his advice was so insightful. He said to me, “Matt, if a guy struggles with his pride in sales, should he ask to get moved to a less prominent role in the company?” I said, “Yeah, that would make sense.” He said, “Nah.” In his mind, I’m sure he was thinking, “This guy is absolutely clueless,” but he was gracious to me. He then said, “That guy can go to a lesser known role at the company, but at some point, his pride is going to pop back up. Why? Because the issue is internal, not external. What that guy needs to do is stay in the position the Lord has placed him in, and actually deal with his heart by battling his pride.” So insightful!

And that’s food for thought for all of us. Are we prone to running away from our problems? Hiding from our heart struggles? Seeking to change our external situation in hopes of finding a solution for our internal agitation? It doesn’t work like that. Our hearts follow us wherever we go. So, if we want growth… if we want victory… it comes from putting off sin by killing it. How do we kill it? By using the formula from - Put off the sinful behavior of the old man, renew our minds with God’s Word in that area, and put on the holy behavior of the new man.

…OR WE WILL DIE ()

INTERPRETATION

But that begs the question, why do we have to kill sin? This sounds taxing. If you’ve been a believer for any amount of time, you know: this is taxing. Well, one big motivation is that the glory of God is on the line! Believers represent Christ to the unbelieving world at large. And if you want another motivator, take a look at verses 6 and 7 in : sin must die or we will die… or we will die.

Colossians 3:6–7 NASB95

6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, 7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.

Notice what Paul says at the start of verse 6:

“For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come...”

“For” here lets us know that everything Paul is about to say is a crucial component of why he said what he just said back in verse 5. Why must the Colossians murder their members that are from the earth? (Not church members by the way, but members of their body.) Why must they murder the immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and idolatry in their hearts? Because the wrath of God is coming as a result.

The verb translated “will come” is in the present tense, meaning that the wrath of God is coming. It’s on the way, and it’s coming fast. In the wise words of the late philosopher Thanos, “Dread it. Run from it. Destiny still arrives.” In this case, replace “destiny” with “God’s wrath”.

Louw and Nida describe this idea of “wrath” as “divine punishment based on God’s angry judgment against someone.” It’s communicating strong displeasure, or anger. And what provokes God to anger? Sin in the lives of His created people.

So, we can understand it like this: Paul’s made it clear to the Colossians that if they are truly saved, then they must murder the sinful members of the flesh. Why? Because the wrath of God abides on all who let them live.

John 3:36 NASB95

36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Ephesians 5:5–6 NASB95

5 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. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

Now if verse 5 wasn’t a wake up call for the Colossians, then verse 6 made sure that the they wouldn’t hit the snooze button on what Paul was trying to say. In their city, different ideologies, religions, and political movements cycled through on a mind-numbing basis due to the city’s location as the crossroads between a few major cities in Asia Minor, such as Ephesus and Laodicea. Even though Paul commended their perseverance in core convictions of the faith back in chapter 1, it would be foolish to pretend like they weren’t susceptible (at some level) to being influenced by whatever fads happened to be sweeping through town on a week-to-week basis.

For the Colossians, their background was more Greek than Roman. This meant that their framework for religion before saving faith was based on Plato, who made sharp distinctions between the spirit realm and the physical realm. In other words, do whatever you want with your physical body, because the only thing that will matter is your spirit body. The only problem is that that sounds nice in theory, but has nothing to do with biblical truth!

IMPLICATION

Now if verse 5 wasn’t a wake up call for the Colossians, then verse 6 made sure that the they wouldn’t hit the snooze button on what Paul was trying to say. In their city, different ideologies, religions, and political movements cycled through on a mind-numbing basis due to the city’s location as the crossroads between a few major cities in Asia Minor, such as Ephesus and Laodicea. Even though Paul commended their perseverance in core convictions of the faith back in chapter 1, it would be foolish to pretend like they weren’t susceptible (at some level) to being influenced by whatever fads happened to be sweeping through town on a week-to-week basis.

For the Colossians, their background was more Greek than Roman. This meant that their framework for religion before saving faith was based on Plato, who made sharp distinctions between the spirit realm and the physical realm. In other words, do whatever you want with your physical body, because the only thing that will matter is your spirit body. The only problem is that that sounds nice in theory, but has nothing to do with biblical truth!

So rightly, when they got saved, the Colossians ran as far away from that stuff as they could. But, what did we bring out earlier? They ran to the extremes. So now, instead of doing whatever they wanted with their bodies, they were punishing their bodies! Does that actually solve the problem of the heart though? Paul didn’t seem to think so.

Colossians 2:23 NASB95

23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

Col. 2:

You see, the Colossians wanted to kill sin, but their core problem was that they had a lower view of God than they thought and a higher view of themselves than they imagined. Paul’s main point in this passage as a whole was to exhort them to get busy about killing their sin at the heart level. That’s a hard command to take! So, Paul made it easier by explaining why it’s necessary to fight sin in such a radical way in our verse right here: because our eternal souls are hanging in the balance.

How often do we reflect on the reality that our sins, each and every one of them, are the reason why God’s wrath is coming to the earth? We don’t often think that way because more often than not, our minds think about how sin affects our relationships on a horizontal level. But have we thought through how our sin affects our relationship with God on a vertical level?

In , we saw that our sin alienated us from God and made us hostile towards him because of our evil deeds. And in , we saw that our sin left us dead in our transgressions and buried underneath a debt we had no ability to pay. But, if you’re a believer, God rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, right? . And in Him, the Son, we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins! . Through the blood of His cross, we have been reconciled to God and are at peace with Him, right? . And not only that, but He made us alive together with Him through death to our flesh and resurrection by the power of the Spirit, paying off our massive debt by nailing it to the cross! .

It’s clear: If you are a believer, we have no business practicing the deeds of the flesh anymore! Why? Look at verse 7.

Colossians 3:7 NASB95

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

Colossians 3:7 NASB95

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

We have a new life now! We have new power! Instead of feeding our flesh, we are now called to put it to death. We’ve been delivered from slavery to sin! Which means, we’ve been delivered from God’s wrath!

So friends, do we rejoice in that? How thankful are we for our salvation? Do we realize the cosmic significance of our salvation? Do we take the time to meditate on the impact of our salvation? On the impossibility of our salvation on a human level? Thankfulness for salvation produces eagerness for sanctification. What other response could we have to a gift that’s been freely given to us that we don’t deserve? Whatever the God of our salvation calls us to do, as believers, we should have no hesitations about doing it.

But… at the same time, it may seem fair to wonder, “Why did God save me and not everybody else?” We’ve all had that thought before. Is God really fair? Is He really just? Is He really a gracious God if He’s only gracious to some?

When it comes to the complexities of divine sovereignty and human responsibility, there’s only so much we can understand in our finite minds. But, look back at the end of verse 6 and you’ll see 5 words that give us a lot of insight into the matter.

“… upon the sons of disobedience...”

It’s interesting that Paul decided to use that language there. If you remember the verse we read from , Paul used the same wording in a similar context. However, notice that this word “disobedience” isn’t just in regards to the flagrant sins in verse 5. It’s talking about disobedience towards God by disobeying His Word.

Essentially, if Paul made it clear to the Colossians that believers must murder the sins of the flesh if they have been delivered from the wrath of God through grace by faith, then why is the wrath of God still coming? Because there will always be many who refuse to believe.

Ephesians 2:1–3 NASB95

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

1 Peter 1:14 NASB95

14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,

We know from chapter 2 that the Colossians had a penchant for following ideas about Christianity that didn’t stem from Scripture, and that penchant is why Paul is speaking so strongly on this subject. But in our own lives, how prone are we to doing the same thing? How many beliefs do we hold about the Christian life that aren’t actually biblical? Friends, those thoughts are simply rebellion. Thoughts of disobedience.

God has given us everything we need for salvation through the Living Word, Jesus Christ. God has also given us everything we need for sanctification through the Living Word, our Bible! So we have to ask ourselves, what clear commands in Scripture are we guilty of disobeying, or refusing to submit to, or ignoring the force of? Do we even know our Bibles well enough to know what clear commands in Scripture we aren’t obeying? A big reason we struggle in killing sin like we’re called to in verse 5 is because we commit many more sins of ignorance on a daily basis than we realize. Those sins of ignorance add up and contribute to our coveting in certain areas, which leads to evil desires, which produce lusts, which then foster impurity, which then culminates in immorality, more often than not. Sound familiar?

All in all, let’s not be those who walk in rebellion, but submission. The ultimate key to sanctification is submission to God’s Word, on a moment by moment basis.

FUEL FOR THE FIGHT

So… What have we learned so far? Last week, we saw from that there are 5 vices that must die in the Christian’s life. Those vices were immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed. Tonight, we learned from two motives for killing sin: sin must die, or we will die. Lots of death going on around here lately!

This can all seem a bit daunting, and this battle against the flesh may seem a little out of our depth. But I want to give you some fuel for the fight before we go, so here’s two motivations, two motivations to mortify, or kill, sin.

1) MORTIFY FOR WORSHIP.

… mortify for worship. What do I mean by that? In Scripture, God actually teaches that battling for holiness and growing in holiness is a form of worship to God. Whoa! Listen to Paul on this in -

Romans 12:1 NASB95

1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Romans 12:1–2 NASB95

1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

We often think of worship just as the music on Sunday morning, or our private devotion time, or maybe even our prayers in a group setting. But here, we see that none of those things fully encompasses what worship is. Worship is every facet of our entire lives.

So if we’re looking for a big motivation to kill sin, look no further than Scripture! We’re commanded to offer our whole lives as a living and holy sacrifice to the Lord. Our holiness matters. My holiness. Your holiness. All of our holiness. So mortify sin for the purpose of worship.

2) MORTIFY FOR GOD’S GLORY.

… mortify for God’s glory. What do I mean by that? The purpose behind all that we do in the Christian life is the glory of God. That’s not my opinion, but simply what Scripture says. Listen to Paul in :

2 Corinthians 5:9 NASB95

9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.

What is pleasing to Him? The holiness of His people. The proof is from :

Isaiah 66:1–2 NASB95

1 Thus says the Lord, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? 2 “For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord. “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.

God’s eyes are on the one who is humble. The only way to gain humility is to kill pride at the heart level by the power of the Spirit.

God’s eyes are on the contrite of spirit. The only way to gain that meekness is to yield to the Word of God in moments of temptation in humble obedience.

And God’s eyes are on those who tremble at His Word. The only way to gain that fear is to be in the Word, allowing it to cut all the way to the deepest and darkest crevices of our hearts.

So let’s strive to become those men and women of God together, shall we? Let’s pray.