A Call to Kill Sin
The Daily, Practical, Christian Life • Sermon • Submitted
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5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices
Introduction
Introduction
We’ve started a new series on the daily, practical Christian life. The emphasis in this series is the fact that the Gospel transforms the manner in which we live everyday life.
The Gospel is exceedingly powerful, and God’s desire for His children, for us who are those of the kingdom, is to live out our Chrstians daily in accordance with that wonderful power that is at work in us.
There are two important ways that I hope this sermon series impacts us. Firstly, I want to urge us as Christians to strive with all diligence to grow in righteousness and holiness, and so to have a powerful impact on the world around us. I long to see us all being so radically transformed by the Gospel that our daily lives are marked by self-sacrificial service, increased holiness, and an increasing delight in Christ.
The second important thing that I do hope comes through this series is a greater delight and appreciation in the power of God at work in us. We must recognise that as those redeemed by the blood of the lamb, we are not left helpless, but are being radically transformed by the power of God’s Spirit working in us. There is real hope for change. There is real hope for growth. There is real hope for overcoming all kinds of struggles, challenges, opposition… all because of God’s power at work.
This evening, our focus is on verses 5-9 of Colossians 3, where Paul emphasizes the importance of putting sin and the old manner of life to death. We are called to kill sin!
An essential element of living the daily Christian life is to be always putting the old, sinful manner of life to death. And this is an active, daily practice that needs to be cultivated within our lives as Christians.
Let us then look to this passage, and hear the call of Christ through Paul. Firstly, notice with me…
1. The Call to Death (v.5)
1. The Call to Death (v.5)
In verse 5 of this passage, Paul writes…
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
We see that Paul begins verse 5 with another “therefore...”
And so, once again, this flows out of that which precedes. Just as the "New Life in Christ" flows out of the glorious doctrines outlined in the first two chapters of Colossians, so this putting to death of the old nature flows out of what we looked at last time in this study. Because our hearts and minds are now set on things above, not on earthly things, we are called to put certain aspects of our old nature to death.
Put to Death
We see, then, that Paul calls us here to action. He calls believers to “Put to Death, then…”
There is an essential act, action, that is required on the part of the person professing faith in Christ.
This action is to mark the new believer, even as they begin their walk with Christ.
This action is to mark the life of every believer throughout the course of their Christian life.
The act to which we are called is that of putting to death an old manner of life.
John Owen asked the probing question....
“Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.”
― John Owen, The Mortification of Sin
These are sobering words, but they are so true.
Sin is that which kills, that which brings separation between God and man. Sin is what caused this world to descend into a state of chaos and animosity with God.
In one sense, as Christians, we know the importance of putting sin to death.
The question is... are we doing it?
NOTE: If you read the NASB - Consider the members of your earthly body as dead to....
Now, let us consider further what Paul says about this important matter of putting sin to death.
The first thing we see in terms of this putting to death is that we are to put to death...
Whatever Belongs
"...whatever belongs to your earthly nature."
What is this earthly nature?
It does not refer to your physical body...
Certainly we would never be asked by Paul to kill our literal bodies.
Rather, Paul is emphasizing that whatever remains of the sinful nature, the nature that has not been raised to newness of life in Christ is to be put to death by the Christian.
We must keep in mind that while we live in this world, our sinful nature continues to have an influence over our conduct. Think about Paul himself, and his words in Romans 7…
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
Paul himself knew what it was to wrestle against sin, to strive against that which formed part of the old sinful nature. While it is true that the Christian continues to live with remaining sin, it is not true to say that the Christian is prepared to continue living with that remaining sin. They are to be about the business of putting to death anything that remains of that sinful nature.
Notice that Paul says in verse 5 of our text that we are to put to death, “Whatever” belongs to our sinful nature.
Paul will go on to list various examples of what he refers to.
However, we need to see that these are merely examples... They are not exhaustive lists. Whatever elements of sin remain, we are called as believers to do away with these.
With that in mind, let us consider briefly the various sins that Paul outlines here.
One observation to note before we do that, is that Paul presents here two lists of sins. The first list really speaks to the internal heart of the person. In other words, the lusts and passions of the heart of man, that perhaps are not directly visible or known to others. Certainly they will be evidenced… we’ll see something of that in a moment. But he’s addressing deep-seated heart issues.
Sexual Immorality
The first sin that he addresses here is sexual immorality. The reference here is to fornication, which is any illicit conduct outside of marriage.
It refers to those who would engage in intimate relations as unmarried people, but naturally includes those who are married, and then who engage in any extra-marital relations, and so break covenant.
Any kind of intimate relations outside of marriage are out of keeping with the people of God. We know well that in our day, this very basic teaching is being undermined, even among professing Christians.
But God’s word is very clear on this. The design of human relations is founded upon the marriage relationship, the union of one man and one woman in marriage, a covenant union. This covenant union is to be honoured among God’s people, and any desired violation, or temptation along these lines, is to be put to death.
The importance and weight of this is found elsewhere in Scripture...
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,
10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.
19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,
20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,
21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
The world around us continues to push the idea of promiscuity, and all kinds of ungodly sexual conduct, but God’s word for those who are transformed by the power of the Gospel is clear!
Impurity
Paul takes the issue of immorality further, and makes mention of impurity. Impurity really speaks to the heart. All fornication / immorality flows out of a heart that is impure.
What Paul is then addressing here is a heart issue that is drawn away to impurity. Paul addressed this in his letter to the Romans.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
This is the state of heart of man that wonders away from God. This is the state of a person that has abandoned true thoughts of God, and has been given over to their own heart lusts. And friends, that is something that belongs to the former manner of life.
7 For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.
Next in the list is…
Lust
While usually associated with fornication / immorality, this goes beyond this.
This term is very much linked with the next term…
Evil Desires
Again, this flows out of a heart that is set upon that which is evil.
Evil desires abound within the hearts of man! The natural man is inclined towards this evil. The natural man is filled with evil desires, because his desires are contrary to the ways of God.
Now, we must not think of this merely as being limited to the arena of immorality. Evil desires are those desires of the heart that would lead us to sin against God in any form or manner.
The word used in the original language speaks of “passions.” This refers to an uncontrolled and habitual lust for the things of the world.
The heart has been described as an idol factory... we sin when we are taken captive by the desires of our heart for the things of this world, rather than allowing our hearts to be taken captive for Christ, and Him alone. This is what Paul is addressing here.
And what Paul is saying is that we must be putting these things to death as those who have been made alive with Christ, and are looking towards that which awaits us in future. As we set our hearts on heavenly things, where Christ is seated, these earthly passions are to be continually put to death.
As Paul continues, he adds one additional sin to the list that generally refers to sexual immorality… that is greed.
Greed
Greed should not merely be thought of in terms of being greedy for more stuff. There is no doubt that it includes this.
But the idea behind what Paul says here is that it is that which is essentially self-seeking. Greedy for selfish gain or advantage. One commentator describes it in these words:
Philippians, Colossians, Philemon Completely Kill Your Sinful Actions (3:5–7)
It is the longing for something that belongs to someone else or placing supreme value on something not (yet) possessed. As used in this context, it is a serious sin; and Paul no doubt included it because it is, in kind, the same as sexual sin. It represents a strong movement of desire toward something out of God’s will at the time.
Every sin is basically selfishness, the worship of self instead of the worship of God, the substitution of self for Christ, in one’s affections (cf. Col. 3:1–3)
But here we have a strong call from the apostle Paul to put to death these sins. There is to be an active war waged on these sins within our lives as believers, so that we would live for the glory of Christ.
As we move on, we see also that Paul calls us to rid ourselves of certain things in our lives.
8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices
As there was a need to put to death certain conduct, practices and desires from our lives as Christians, we are called to rid ourselves of other vices that are inconsistent with our new identity in Christ.
Keep in mind that I mentioned earlier that the first list (in verse 5) speaks to that of personal struggles. Yes, they may involve other people (as immorality does). But the list that Paul now goes on to present speaks to our relations with others. In other words, there is certain conduct that Christians ought not to have as part of their lives due to their newness of life in Christ.
Once again, we need to see that this list is illustrative, rather than exhaustive. But once again, we are to rid ourselves (entirely) of these vices. The sins that Paul deals with here are those which destroy social relationships.
Notice what is to be done away with.
The first is anger. One may think of this as the inner elevation of emotional temperature. Paul is saying that the heart within a person is not to well up in angry emotion against another person. Such anger is usually sinful. While it is true that Paul says elsewhere, “in your anger, do not sin,” the reality is that the vast majority of times that we are angry with others, it is not because of genuine righteous indignation, but rather out of a response to what we perceive as an injustice to our person!
And Paul says here that we are to rid ourselves of this. It is not to form part of the manner of life of the Christian. It is to be done away with!
Next on the list is Rage. This speaks of the outward eruption of the inward anger. When a person becomes angry with those around him, and lets loose on them with an outburst of rage. This kind of conduct, once again, is not to form part of the manner of action of the Christian. Any time that we do act in this way, we acting inconsistently with our identity as Children of God.
Further to this, Paul says to do away with Malice. This word speaks about a viciousness of mind, where a person targets another person with ill intentions, rather than with good intentions. It speaks of a disposition that would seek to punish or bring retribution for personal reasons.
The next vice mentioned is that of Slander. This refers to the use of language and words that attack another person, and defame the other person. This speaks of words that are contrary to what God commands in Ephesians 4:29 and Ephesians 4:31. As Christians, our words ought to be used to bring encouragement.
The final vice, along the lines of our treatment of others, is filthy language. The word filthy has behind it the idea of “abusiveness”. It relates to the spreading of gossip, or the pronouncement of vulgar obscenities. It refers to any kind of speech that is used in an ungodly manner in an abusive, belittling manner. Our words ought not to attack, dear friends, but rather to be used to build up others.
In verse 9, Paul introduces another thought really, but I’ve included the vice with verse 8. Lying should be done away with. There should be no dishonesty among the people of God, because we have taken off the old self…
As we’ve skimmed very briefly through these lists that Paul presents, I wonder how many of you sense something of a dread. How often have you perhaps failed at these calls of Paul? If you’ve struggled with these vices, let me assure you that you are not alone.
However, that is not a call to complacency in these matters. Paul’s entire argument here is that these things must be put away. For us as professing believers in Christ to live in a manner consistent with our profession of faith, we must put these things to death, and rid ourselves of them.
Our lives as Christians are to be marked by holiness and purity of conduct. Our inner life is to be transformed into that which is new, which requires the death of the old. Our attitudes towards those around us are to be transformed so that we do not conduct ourselves in selfishness, but rather in selflessness.
With that in mind, notice secondly with me…
2. The Motivation for Death (vv.6-7)
2. The Motivation for Death (vv.6-7)
There are two aspects that I’d like us to note in this regard. Firstly…
2.1. God's Wrath (v.6)
2.1. God's Wrath (v.6)
Paul writes in verse 6…
6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
Paul’s argument here is that God has set aside a day of judgment where his final wrath will be poured out against mankind because of all their ungodliness and wickedness.
In Romans 1:18, Paul writes…
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
Now, dear friends, if God has redeemed us as his chosen people, how is it that we would continue to live in a manner that is inviting the wrath of God?!
As those who have been redeemed from a former manner of life, we know that we have been redeemed from the judgment of God. We have been rescued out of a place of animosity towards God. We have been rescued out of darkness and brought into this glorious kingdom of light.
The question then, dear friends, is how can we continue to walk in such practices. If we’ve truly come to understand the grace and mercy of God towards us in Christ, how can we willingly walk in such sin? If God has paid such a high price of us, how can we wilfully, and without any concern continue to walk in the ways that are bringing upon humanity the wrath of God?!
We cannot. This must be a strong motivating force for us…
The second, which really is related to the first, is that…
2.2. They Mark the World
2.2. They Mark the World
7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.
These practices are inconsistent with our new life in Christ. Remember, this is what we looked at last time in this study. We have a new nature. We are a creation. We have this new life in Christ. Paul said previously that we have died, and our life is now hidden with Christ in God.
Therefore, it should deeply concern us every time we act in a manner inconsistent with our new life in Christ.
In fact, it should grieve us when we walk in this manner - according to the old manner of life.
We cannot continue, as professing believers, to walk in a manner that is inconsistent with our new identity. It’s too glorious. The price paid is too high. The grace given to us is too precious to be happy to continue living in such sinful manners of life.
With that in mind, I would like to briefly point out some....
3. Practical Steps for Putting to Death
3. Practical Steps for Putting to Death
How do we do this?
Spiritual Battle
Firstly, we need to recognise that we are facing a spiritual battle. In the morning Adult Classes, I’ve started a new study on the Armour of the Christian, from Ephesians 6:10-20. This is a really important study for us as Christians, because many Christians live ignorant of the extent of the battle, and also of the weapons available to them; ignorant of how they may make use of these weapons.
There are spiritual weapons that we as the children of God are to be wielding if we are to gain victory over the sin that seeks to dominate us. Please, try to attend those classes… they will really help in knowing how to use these weapons.
That said, I don’t want to leave you without any practical helps today. So, here are some practical steps…
Read Scripture
Read the Scriptures daily, like your life depends on it!!
In doing that, we’re looking to know God. We want to truly know the God we claim to serve. And we don’t know God apart from regular time in his word, meditating on that word. Taking it in… processing it in our minds.
We also want to look at the promises of God in Scripture. We need to understand the glorious truths and promises that are ours in Christ. These promises will give us genuine hope and transformation of our thinking, as we believe them in faith.
Prayer
Be praying alone in the closet. Be praying at church with your brothers and sisters. Be praying in the prayer meeting with your fellow believers. Be praying wherever you can.
Pray the Scriptures. Remember, you don’t have the strength - God does. We are dependent upon Him.
Pray for a heart transformed by God through the power of the word. Ultimately, all such sin flows out of a heart that desires these things more than it desires God, and Christ.
Be at Church - among God’s people
Cut off all sources of sin
Be radical with sin. Fight against it. Preach the Gospel to yourself every day. We need the Gospel hope to pervade our thinking. The truth of what God has done for us in and through Christ.
Proverbs… foolish young man, going down the street of the wayward woman. Therein lay the first problem. Flirting with potential sources of sin.
Jesus said to cut off that part of your body that causes you to sin.
If you struggle with gluttony, don’t to an all-you-can-eat buffet.
If you struggle with lust, don’t go onto social media platforms that promote sensuality. Cut of access to sources that freely bring sensuality and lust into your homes…
If you struggle with greed, be careful of the things that you allow your eyes to see. Don’t keep wathing the YouTube channels of the rich and famous.
Whatever you do, make a daily conscious decision to get rid of sin, and to not allow it to master your life.
As we close, I do want to give one important reminder. All of the putting to death, all of the ridding ourselves of, must flow out of a work of the Gospel in our hearts.
9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously
12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.
13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Here is the reason for us doing these things. The glorious, saving power of the Gospel. Not your own strength. Not your own power. But the power of God at work in us through the Gospel!