Colossians part 13…May 24th 2015
Chapter 3:5-9.
Tomorrow we will celebrate a day set aside to honor those who gave their lives for this
country.
On Veterans Day we ask the Veterans to stand and we honor them…
On Memorial Day we honor those who took a stand and because of that stand it took their lives.
We honor those men and women who gave their lives as heroes…
But the ones responsible for their death saw them as enemies and people who stood in the
way of their countries victory or their own survival.
To some our fallen were heroes and to others they were enemies that needed to be put to death.
When a person signs up for the military it is a great decision but it also comes with great
responsibility.
And it comes with enemies.
That person represents by wearing that uniform the USA.
So that means the enemies of the USA see that person as the USA.
With all that in mind is leads us into the message for today.
When a person is saved or gives their life to Christ it is the greatest decision a person can
make.
But with that decision there are enemies to our relationship with Christ that must be dealt with.
The devil becomes the person’s life long enemy after they accept Christ.
The devil works to kill what the Lord has done for that person.
To kill the plans the Lord has…
To kill the enjoyment of a life lived for Christ…
To kill the motivation to live for Christ…
The devil can simply be defined as a killer.
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The devil is the root and source behind every killing and every war.
And he is a constant enemy that seeks to kill steal and destroy.
We are satan’s enemy because we belong to Christ.
Satan doesn’t hate me he hates the God that is within me.
Because he is such an enemy of Christ and to us as Christians it means we are always at
war…
The greatest war ever fought is the war within a person.
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The war between the old man and the new man.
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The fight between the old ways and the new ways…
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The fight between the old nature and the new nature.
Just as with any war the road to victory is found in killing off or capturing the enemy.
The greatest war is within us, so it means to have victory within us there are some things that
need to be put to death.
When we confess our sin and receive Jesus Christ as our Savior…
God gives new life this means a person is born again.
That’s what Paul is saying when he says we have been raised with Christ.
When a person has new life it means the old life has passed away.
But to live and enjoy that risen or new life or eternal life we have to deal with the enemy…
The enemy within is not satan the enemy within is the old ways, the old desires, the old
attitudes.
So the question is how do we deal with the enemy of the old man with the old ways and old
desires?
In the verses today Paul is going to explain in specific terms the enemy and how to deal
with it.
Verse 5…Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth…
The words to put to death refers to a point of action a once and for all things…
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To put to death means to make a definite commitment to do something.
The commitment is two fold…
First we are to put to death the old man…
And in verse 10 we are to put on the new man.
These statements speak of radical transformation.
Like the prince who was turned into frog and then as a frog he was kissed by a beautiful girl and
he became a handsome prince again.
Paul is speaking of the change of a person’s nature.
So Paul says in verse 5 put to death make a definite commitment that certain things in
your life is going to die.
He actually calls those things members or things that have joined themselves to us and have
become a part of our lives.
It means to eliminate or exterminate everything that is in our lives that is against God.
To clarify this point Paul is not saying put the body to death…
He is saying put the deeds of the body to death.
When we put to death or kill the deeds of the fleshly nature then we really begin to live and
experience spiritual, heavenly life in the way God intended.
Important to get this…God never holds a person back from living and enjoying the new life…
What holds us back from enjoying our relationship with God are the old ways of life.
The old ways have to be put to death in order to allow the new ways to operate.
Simply put cut the ties, cut the strings with the old life.
We are new creatures so we need to live like it.
Then Paul starts naming names of some of the old ways…
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He gives two lists of sins that need and must be put to death in order to live and enjoy the new
life.
Actually the list he gives refers to the most troublesome sins.
The first list is in verse 5…
The list includes personal and passion sins which are related to feelings.
What you will see is Paul moves from the actual sin itself backwards to the motive.
He starts with evil action.
He says put to death…
Fornication…
Fornication refers to sexual sin or sexual immorality.
In our society sexual immorality is rampant.
Sexual sin destroys people, marriages and homes and even lives.
We live in a promiscuous society that is driven by sexual passions.
Our society is filled with sex crimes from child porn to bestiality.
Many marriages have ended in divorce because of on-line affairs and pornography.
The word pornography comes from the Greek word pornea and graphe.
Pornea and graphe is a picture or a writing about evil sin.
Immorality refers to unlawful sexual relationships that goes beyond just a man and woman in a
relationship…
It covers any kind of forbidden sexual act such as bestiality and homosexuality.
God forbids any sexual activity outside of marriage…
Go through the Bible and you will see God’s attitude toward sexual sin and in the O.T. this
kind of evil was punished with death.
Paul says to live and enjoy the risen life all sexual immorality is to be put to death.
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Then Paul tells us not only the second thing that needs to be put to death but where the
immorality comes from…
It springs out of uncleanness.
Uncleanness means evil, filthy thoughts and intentions.
It is the evil thought that is behind the evil deed.
Adultery, pornography, fornication all comes from an evil thought pattern.
Evil thoughts produce sin just like righteous thoughts produce righteous deeds.
That’s why Col. 3:16 says Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly or let the Word of God be
the controlling influence in your mind.
When a person has control over their mind they will have control over their sex drive and evil
thoughts.
Paul says put the uncleanness to death.
Where does this uncleanness come from?
Paul tells us in verse 5 two places is comes from.
Passion and evil desire.
Passion also known as inordinate affection.
Passion describes a state of mind that excites sexual impurity.
A person who cultivates this kind of appetite can and will always find opportunity to satisfy it.
Evil desires is a fired up kind of thing or another level of intensity of passion.
Watch the progression or sequence Paul is giving so far…
There is a smoldering passion, that passion gets fanned, that becomes an evil desire, the evil
desire becomes aroused, and creates and evil thought, the evil thought creates and evil deed.
Paul says kill it!
Then in verse 5 we see the last one on the list…
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Covet-ous-ness.
Covetousness comes from the word…
Plionexia which is two words Plion which means more…
And exia which means to have.
So covetousness means to have more including what isn’t yours to have.
To have the forbidden thing.
Covetousness is desiring what is forbidden.
The oldest of all sins started right in the Garden of Eden.
Wanting what is forbidden or the forbidden fruit.
God says something is forbidden…
But we say to God I don’t care what You think I want it.
And then out of that covetousness is generated the evil desire that flames itself in an evil
thought…
And the evil thought generates and evil deed.
Notice Paul goes on to say in verse 5 covetousness is idolatry.
Every sin ever committed goes back to covetousness where we chose ourselves over God.
God said we shall have no other gods before Him and that includes us as a god.
A covetous person will lie, steal, and commit all kinds of sin to satisfy themselves.
Paul says kill covetousness!
A covetous person will miss what has for them while to try steal what God did not give them.
Covetous person forfeits the best for themselves.
Paul says everything in this list must be put to death or take the shovel to the root.
Verse 6…
Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.
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Paul here gives reasons for putting to death those things in the list…
God will judge and pour out His wrath meaning God will deal with us.
The consequences are tragic.
That ought to do it right there.
Then in verse 7 Paul gives us another reason why we should kill the things in this list.
Verse 7…In which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
The reason to kill them is because that’s what we were delivered from…
They are the old me and the old you.
We have been made rich and made clean…
Why beg again why live in the hog pen when we have been brought out?
Paul says when a person fools around with what they have been brought of it will bring
discipline and it doesn’t make sense.
Verse 8…
But now you yourselves are to put off all these.
Here Paul gives a second list of sins and things that need to be put off.
These are related more to our speech.
In the first list he said put to death…
Here he says we are to put off.
It is really a picture of a person changing clothes.
Putting on and putting off refers to the resurrection of Jesus Christ when Jesus rose from
the dead…
He left the grave clothes behind…
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The reason was He had no need for them because He had entered into a new glorious resurrected
life.
When Lazarus was raised from the dead Jesus told them to loosen him from the grave clothes
and let him go.
The grave clothes represented the old life.
You can’t live and enjoy the new life wearing grave clothes.
Jesus gives every new believer a change of clothes…
He gives us grace clothes for our grave clothes.
We must discard the clothes of our old lives not put them away…
But put them off throw them off.
Change and throw away our habits and vices.
We have to take off the old in order to wear the new.
To walk in the newness of life we have to put off the old deeds and desires.
The list of what to put off…
Paul says put off, anger, wrath and malice.
These three are sins of bad attitude toward others.
Once again Paul shows us a sequence.
Anger refers to deep down smoldering resenting bitterness that is slow burning.
A person that is ready to blow at anytime.
Wrath is a step deeper into anger it is a blazing thing when a person has become furious.
Malice is when anger which is a smoldering thing turns into a flaming thing then leads even
deeper to malice.
Malice is evil speaking or when it comes from the heart into the mouth.
Anger becomes wrath, wrath becomes malice and malice then becomes…
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Blasphemy.
Malice puts it into the mouth and blasphemy is when it comes out of the mouth.
Blasphemy is best translated as slander and speech that tears others down.
And the list goes on…
Slander leads to filthy language.
Filthy language in the Greek means obscene language.
Obscene language is rotten talk.
Then in verse 9 Paul gives one more…
Do not lie to each other.
Lying must be put off as it hurts and causes major problems.
These are the things that have to be killed and put off to enjoy the new life that God has
given…
And to have victory over the old ways and the old man.
I am convinced as people we can never enjoy the abundant life and eternal life God has for us…
Unless things are put to death and things are thrown off.
God is not going to put them to death for us and if God is not going to take them off of us
how do we do it?
One main way…
Want to kill a plant quit watering it…
Want to kill an animal quit feeding it.
We have to quit feeding these things or giving these things what they need to survive.
Want to get healthy?
Change your diet or eating habits and exercise.
Want to be all Christ would have you to be?
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Pour into your mind the Word of God and exercise what the Word says.
The enemies will be conquered.
Give the Holy Spirit control over our lives and He will produce through us…
His fruit.
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