Colossians 3.9-The Colossians Must Continue to Not Lie to One Another Because They Stripped Off the Old Man
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday June 26, 2016
Colossians: Colossians 3:9-The Colossians Must Continue to Not Lie to One Another Because They Have Stripped Off the Old Man
Lesson # 77
Colossians 3:9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices. (NASB95)
The apostle Paul is employing the figure of asyndeton in order to emphasize the critical importance and solemn nature of this command here in Colossians 3:9 which required that the faithful Christians in Colossae continue making it their habit of not lying to each other.
“Do not lie to one another” is composed of the following: (1) negative particle me (μή), “not” (2) verb pseudomai (ψεύδομαι), “do lie” (3) preposition eis (εἰς), “to” (4) reciprocal pronoun allēlōn (ἀλλήλων), “one another.”
The verb pseudomai means “to lie” since it pertains to communicating to someone that which is false with the evident purpose of misleading them.
The second person plural form of this verb is a reference to the faithful Christians in Colossae as a corporate unit and is used in a distributive sense to emphasize no exceptions.
This verb is negated by the negative particle me and together, they form of a prohibition which has the force of a general precept and makes no comment about whether the action is taking place or not.
Here, they express a general precept the faithful Christians in Colossae were to continue to observe.
Paul affirms the Colossians’ faithfulness to the gospel in Colossians 1:3-5 and 2:5.
Thus, the prohibition here is expressing the idea of each and every one of these faithful Christians in Colossae continuing to make it their habit of not lying to each other.
The reciprocal pronoun allēlōn means “one another” and is used in regards to the faithful believers in Colossae interaction with each other and denotes the mutual exchange of not lying to one another.
“Since you laid aside the old self” is composed of the following: (1) verb apekduomai (ἀπεκδύομαι), “since you laid aside” (2) adjective palaios (παλαιός), “the old” (3) noun anthrōpos (ἄνθρωπος), “man.”
The verb apekduomai means “to strip off, to take off” and is used in a figurative sense of the Colossian believers taking off or stripping off their old Adamic indwelling sin nature.
The word pertains to leaving a certain state or condition which is conceived of as being or becoming divested of a garment.
Here it speaks of the Colossians leaving the state or condition of being enslaved to the old indwelling Adamic sin nature at the moment they were declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
Simultaneously, they were identified with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, and burial through the baptism of the Spirit.
Consequently, this identification freed them from the power of the sin nature.
So this removal of the sin nature took place at their conversion experience.
The verb apekduomai functions as a causal participle which indicates that the faithful believers in Colossae were to continue to make it their habit of not lying to one another “because” they have stripped off the old indwelling Adamic sin nature.
The aorist tense of the verb apekduomai is a consummative aorist which is used to stress the cessation of an act or state.
Therefore, here it is used to emphasize the Colossians stripping off the old indwelling Adamic sin nature as having been completed the moment they were declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
Simultaneously, they were identified with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, and burial through the baptism of the Spirit.
Consequently, this identification freed them from the power of the sin nature.
So the aorist tense of this verb speaks of the moment of justification or their conversion experience.
This verb apekduomai is an indirect middle meaning that the subject acts for himself or herself or in their own interests.
Therefore, the middle voice indicates that “for their own benefit,” the Colossians stripped off their old indwelling Adamic sin nature the moment they were declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
It was for their benefit because they were no longer enslaved to the sin nature as they were prior to justification.
The noun anthrōpos means, “man” referring to the Colossians’ old indwelling Adamic sin nature which resides in the genetic structure of their human bodies.
This word is modified by the adjective palaios, which means, “old” and together, they are personifying the old Adamic sin nature.
The sin nature is described as “old” because it belongs to the old creation under Adam which is under a curse because of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden.
“With its evil practices” refers to the actions of the sin nature, which find expression in the human body and not only refers to various acts of sin such as the ones listed in Colossians 3:5 and 8 but also to the various lust patterns of the sin nature.
These would include lusts that are sexual in nature, and those related to the seeking of power, approbation, money, materialism, revenge.
They are related to all types of criminal activity as well as the abuse of drugs and alcohol as well as hedonism.
At the heart of such lusts is the desire to live independently of the will of God.
Colossians 3:9 Each and every one of you continue making it your habit of not lying to one another because each and every one of you for your own benefit have stripped off the old man with its practices. (My translation)
The apostle Paul issues a solemn prohibition here in Colossians 3:9 which required that the faithful Christians in Colossae continue making it their habit of not lying to each other.
Paul affirms the Colossians’ faithfulness to the gospel in Colossians 1:3-5 and 2:5.
In the former, the apostle informed these faithful Christians in Colossae that he gave thanks to the Father in prayer for them after hearing about their faith in Jesus Christ and that they were practicing the love of God with one another.
Paul would never issue this prohibition in Colossians 3:9 for the Colossians to not lie to one another after affirming and commending them in Colossians 1:3-5 for loving each other since lying to one another and loving one another are mutually exclusive.
In Colossians 2:5, Paul asserts that he was rejoicing over the fact that they were disciplined and specifically their dedication which was produced by their faith with regards to their union and identification with Jesus Christ.
The apostle would never have issued this prohibition in Colossians 3:9 after affirming and commending the Colossians for being disciplined in appropriating by faith their identification with Christ.
Thus, the prohibition in Colossians 3:9 is simply preventative maintenance or in other words, it is a protection for them.
Then, Paul presents the reason why they must continue to obey this prohibition by asserting that they had stripped off the old man with its practices.
This causal clause is figurative language for the Colossian believers taking off or stripping off their old Adamic indwelling sin nature at the moment of justification.
It speaks of the Colossians leaving the state or condition of being enslaved to the old indwelling Adamic sin nature at the moment they were declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
Simultaneously, they were identified with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, and burial through the baptism of the Spirit and so consequently, this identification freed them from the power of the sin nature.
So this removal of the sin nature took place at their conversion experience.
Therefore, Paul is telling the Colossians with this causal clause that they must not lie to one another because to do so would be inconsistent with the fact that they have been freed from the sin nature since lying is one of the manifestations of the sin nature.
The second reason for this prohibition in Colossians 3:9 is presented in Colossians 3:10 which asserts that the Colossians have put on “the new man” which is a reference to the new Christ nature they received at justification.
This new nature means that they were identified with Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father through the baptism of the Spirit and it also means that they were indwelt by the Lord Jesus Christ as Paul asserts in Colossians 1:27.
Therefore, the Colossians were to continue to obey the prohibition in Colossians 3:9 because they have put on the new Christ nature which they received at the moment of their justification.
Positionally the old Adamic sin nature has been crucified and died and buried with Christ through the baptism of the Spirit.
Every believer will experience this identification in a perfective sense when they receive their resurrection body at the rapture of the church which will be minus the sin nature.
However, the believer can only experience this identification and deliverance from the sin nature by appropriating by faith their identification with Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
This act of faith would involve considering themselves dead to the sin nature and alive to God (cf. Romans 6).