Colossians 3:5-11

Cut out the sinning.

Dead men are unable to use their bodies to sin. They cannot cheat or steal. They cannot lie with their mouths or murder with their hands. Paul uses this reality of physical death to describe a separation of between us and a life of sinning.

The word death is used in different ways to describe aspects of the reality of our spiritual being.

We are born spiritually dead and are in need of forgiveness and of being made spiritually alive. In this way we start physical life in a state of being cut off from a relationship with God and blind to spiritual truth. (Eph. 2:4,5)

In Romans and here in Colossians, Paul speaks of an identity change that happens when we are saved in which we are united with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. In this way believers die to their state of having a human nature that is enslaved to the sin which indwells us. The flesh no longer has rightful authority to command our obedience. After salvation our human nature is released to serve the Lord in purity and eternal life. (Romans 6:1-4)

In Colossians 3:3, he seems to be saying that believers are cut off from a life of pursuing the temporary, vain things of this world.

In this passage he implores us to make this severed-from-sin identity into a reality of actual practice by urging us to put the members of our body to death — that is to sever their connection to sinful practice. This change doesn’t happen through the tenacity of our own self-discipline but instead arises from living out our changed identity of having died with Christ (2:20) and of being raised up with Him (3:1).

There is a holy and pure life which flows from this identity and which is taught to us by God’s grace. (Tit 2:11,12)

As a believer you should not compromise and allow yourself to behave in ways you know are wrong, whether in passionate outbursts or quiet habits. Simply refuse all of those enticements. Engage in the spiritual war, and lean upon the Savior for continual grace to obey. On the other hand, we’re not actually aware of all of our wrongdoing and brokenness, but we can walk along with the Lord and He will guide us into a growing life of godliness. (Psalm 139:23,24)

Let the only wise God drive the car. You rest in His leadership along the way.

Paul lays out a catalogue of degraded passions to help our knowledge of wrongdoing. Consider his list of sins which should no longer be cultivated by believers. He concedes that these were at one time bad habits for us, but we should no longer act this way because God’s wrath will one day fall on those who practice these deeds.

We belong to the Savior and are rescued from that wrath. For believers to continue in this evil is inappropriate given their identity in Christ.

Don’t give in to compulsive, burning desires for any bad thing, whether sexual immorality or corrupted passions of any other kind. Don’t be greedy, which would be the worship of money as an idol. Don’t lash out in a furious rage. Don’t attempt to injure others, whether through malicious actions or by slanderous speech. Stop lying to one another.

In verses 9-10 Paul goes back to our change of identity as the motivation for this change of behavior. Here he uses clothing instead of death as the analogy. Believers have already laid aside the old sinful man like a tattered garment and have put on fresh, clean clothes of a new life that imitates Christ.

Furthermore, this renewal covers believers equally. There are no special groups of superior Christians, because the focus is not on us but on the One who is our glorious Savior — the Lord Jesus Christ.

Becoming believers not only brings freedom from guilt and its penalty forever, it brings relief from sin’s self-destructive practice today. Yield to God’s plan in the power of God’s grace.

Pursuit of wisdom for today from the Ancient of Days

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