Colossians 3:5-11 – Rooting Out Sin
The believer in Jesus is said to have died with Christ and yet in this passage he is urged to ‘put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature’. This seeming contradiction is more apparent than real, for although the Christian has died to sin with regard to his state and standing before God, his actual condition does not fully correspond to his standing. He not only has the new nature from Christ, he has the remnants of the old nature which manifests itself in the ways that the apostle now goes on to mention.
There is a specific action that is required. The Christian is to ‘put to death’ or ‘to kill’ those desires and actions that belong to the earthly nature. This is very much like the injunctions of the Lord Jesus Christ when he told his disciples ‘pluck out’ the eye that offended or ‘cut off’ the hand that caused to sin. It is a strenuous and painful process that continues for the whole of the earthly existence.
It must always be remembered that these instructions are not a way for a person to gain acceptance with God, these verses do not speak of justification for that is accomplished freely and fully by God in sending His Son to bear the sins of His people. What is in view here is the ongoing work of sanctification in which the active and vigorous participation of the believer is required.
There is a need to constantly look at our lives to see the attitudes and actions that do not please God and then to seek to root them out. We need to have a constant process of self-examination as we hold up our lives to the mirror of the word of God.
Questions
- ‘To put to death’ sounds very drastic: how can we put that into practice in our own particular circumstances?
Prayer Points
- Pray for the preaching and hearing of God’s Word tomorrow.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.