Colossians 3:1-11: Living as New People

Colossians 3:1-11: Living as New People

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through Paul’s letter to the Colossians, and today the next passage we come to is Colossians 3:1-11. Hear now the words of the Living and True God:

¹ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. ³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. ⁵ Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ⁶ On account of these the wrath of God is coming. ⁷ In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. ⁸ But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. ⁹ Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. ¹¹ Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.  

May God bless the reading of his Word.

 Let’s pray: Father, your word is a lamp to our feet and a light for our paths. Shine your light brightly this morning. Help us to see everything we need to see about who you are, what you’ve done, what you promise, what you teach, and what you desire for our lives. Minister to us by your Holy Spirit, for it’s in Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Imagine a man who looks in a mirror one day and decides that he really needs to lose some weight and get healthy and in shape once again. So, he sets out to gather all the information he can about health and fitness. He engages in countless hours of online research, subscribes to fitness magazines, consults with his doctor, hires a personal trainer, and devotes himself for months to studying all the best practices for health and fitness.

However, let’s say he never actually makes any changes to his lifestyle. He keeps right on getting fast food for many of his meals and snacking on generous amounts of junk food and neglecting any kind of meaningful exercise. So, even though his mind is filled with a staggering amount of information about health and fitness, none of that information is actually benefiting him because he’s not putting any of it to use.

And that’s the problem many Christians have when it comes to the Bible. Their problem isn’t that they don’t know what God says to do but rather that they struggle to actually do it. Even though the Bible shows us how we can flourish the most in our lives and live in the realm of God’s blessing, many Christians struggle to experience the fullness of that blessing because they’re focused more on accumulating information through their engagement with the Bible rather than experiencing transformation.

Yet, as D. L. Moody famously stated, “The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge but to change our lives.” Something’s wrong if we’re just reading the Bible to acquire information as an end in itself. Our ultimate goal should be to be transformed by the things we read and live them out in our day-to-day lives.

And that’s Paul’s focus in the second half of his letter to the Colossians—starting in Colossians 3. He wants to make sure his readers don’t make the mistake so many Christians make of not applying the truths they’ve learned. So, whereas everything Paul’s written previously in the letter has been primarily oriented around what we should believe, everything he writes from this point onward is primarily oriented around how we should live. Theologians often use the terminology of the indicative and the imperative. The “indicative” refers to statements of various theological truths, whereas the “imperative” refers to how we should live in response to those truths.

So, the passage before us—Colossians 3:1-11—starts off transitioning from the indicative to the imperative in verses 1-4 and then dives fully into the imperative in verses 5-11. The main idea of this passage is that old habits have no place in the lives of new people. Old habits have no place in the lives of new people. So, let’s examine this passage together so that we can make sure we don’t fail to see how the truths taught so far in Colossians apply to our lives.

Paul begins verse 1 by saying, “If then you have been raised with Christ….” Now, the word “if” here carries the idea of “since.” Paul’s essentially saying, “Since then you have been raised with Christ, here’s what you should do.” And the idea of being “raised with Christ” is one that Paul’s already taught quite extensively in this letter. In Colossians 2:12-13, Paul explained to his readers that they’ve been buried with Jesus and then raised with him through faith. Paul then emphasized again that God made them alive together with Christ.

And as I explained when we were studying that passage, the concept of the Christian’s union with Christ is one that’s pervasive throughout the New Testament. In fact, we could even say that all the blessings and benefits we enjoy as Christians come to us by virtue of our union with Christ.

You see, the Bible teaches that each one of us has sinned against God and therefore deserves to suffer God’s punishment for all eternity. That’s what justice requires, and God’s righteousness and holy nature compels him to uphold justice in that way. However, not only is God righteous and holy, he’s also loving and merciful. And in his love, God the Father sent his own Son Jesus to this earth in order to rescue us from our otherwise hopeless predicament.

Jesus first lived a perfectly sinless life and then voluntarily allowed himself to be crucified. He did this in order to take upon himself the punishment our sins deserved. Essentially, Jesus served as our substitute and suffered God the Father’s wrath on the cross so we wouldn’t have to suffer it in hell. He was then triumphantly raised from the dead three days later with the result that he now stands ready to rescue everyone who puts their trust in him. This is a message known as the gospel.

And the New Testament tells us over and over again that our rescue from sin involves us being united with Jesus in such a way that we share in everything he experienced and are credited with everything he accomplished. And again, this is the channel through which we receive all the blessings of the gospel. There’s not a single gospel blessing that those of us who are Christians enjoy that doesn’t come to us through our union with Christ.

For example, we’re loved because God loves Jesus—and we’re united with him. We’re viewed as righteous because Jesus lived a perfectly righteous life—and we’re united with him. We’re forgiven of our sin and dead to our old way of living because Jesus died on the cross—and we’re united with him. We’re new people and are looking forward to having glorified resurrection bodies one day in heaven because Jesus was raised from the dead—and we’re united with him.  

Perhaps a good way to say it is that God the Father “thinks of us” in this way. Union with Christ means that God thinks of us as sharing in the perfect obedience of Christ, the sacrificial death of Christ, the victorious resurrection of Christ, and, for that matter, the heavenly ascension of Christ and the eternal reign of Christ. God thinks of us as being united with Christ in all of these ways, which means that we get to enjoy all of the blessings that belong to Christ as if we ourselves had earned them.  

In just a few weeks, I’ll get on an airplane and fly to Alabama in order to attend the annual Anchored in Truth conference. And from the moment I get on that plane, whatever happens to the plane is more or less what will happen to me. If the plan goes down, guess what? I’m going down. If, on the other hand, the plane reaches its destination safely—as I hope it will—I too will reach my destination safely. To a certain degree, my welfare is inextricably linked to the welfare of that plane. Whatever happens to the plane happens to me, and whatever it accomplishes is what I accomplish. That’s similar to the way in which we’re “in Christ” and united with him.

And all of this incredibly relevant for us as we seek to live as God would have us live and grow in godliness—which is a process the Bible often refers to as sanctification. Our union with Christ is the fountain out of which our sanctification flows. In John 15, Jesus uses the illustration of a vine and its branches. The only way those branches are able to be fruitful is through their connection to the vine. Similarly, the only way we’re able to bear spiritual fruit in our lives is through our connection with Jesus. He states in John 15:4-5, ⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. So, our fruitfulness depends not primarily on our own efforts but first and foremost on our connection to Jesus and being united with him and us drawing strength from that union.

And that’s why Paul begins our main passage the way he does—by speaking of us being “raised with Christ” or united with Christ in his resurrection. That’s the foundation of all spiritual vitality and genuine spiritual growth in our lives. And it’s critical for us to understand that as we seek to grow in godliness and overcome the sins with which we struggle.

Because the reality is that every one of us struggles with sin. Although those of us who are Christians don’t give ourselves over to sin as we did before becoming Christians, we continue to battle sinful desires and tendencies. And winning that battle begins with us framing the battle in the appropriate way. It begins in our mind.

You might compare it to jiu-jitsu or another martial art. Although I don’t personally do jiu-jitsu, I’ve been told by those who have trained extensively in jiu-jitsu that it’s as much a mental battle as it is a physical one. Winning a jiu-jitsu match starts with the mind. And it’s the same for our battle against sin. Overcoming the sins with which we struggle begins with approaching the battle with the proper mindset of union with Christ—and knowing that both the power for our victory and the guarantee of our victory are derived from us being, as Paul says, “raised with Christ.”

So, with that foundational understanding in place, let’s now continue with the rest of verse 1 and into verse 2. Paul writes, ¹ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. In other words, since we’ve been raised with Christ and continue to be joined with him in his heavenly existence, we should “seek the things that are above” and “set [our] minds on things…above” rather than on earthly things. This means being preoccupied with God and how glorious he is and his will for our lives and his purposes in this world. Is that what’s foremost in your thoughts as you go about an average day? Are you more caught up in the things of God or in earthly cares and concerns?

Paul then continues in verses 3-4, ³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Again, in verse 3, we find reference to the fact that we’ve died with Christ to our old self and our old way of living. The old “us” is dead. And our life is now “hidden with Christ in God.” This means that it’s unshakably secure. Our eternal future is protectively “hidden” from everything that might otherwise threaten it.

As a result, verse 4 reminds us, we can confidently look forward to the day when Christ appears, because we know that we also will appear with him in glory. Those of us who are Christians will join Jesus in heaven and accompany him at his Second Coming.

By the way, I love how Paul speaks of Christ in verse 3 as the one not just who gives us life but who “is” our life. He says, “When Christ who is your life appears….” On some occasions, I’ve heard parents say of their children, “They’re my world. I just love my children so much—they’re my world.” Now, to be clear, I’m not sure that’s a particularly good or biblical way to order your priorities. As much as you might love your children, hopefully there’s more to your world than just your children. Yet there are parents who occasionally say that their children are their world.

And that’s similar to what I believe Paul means when says when he says that Jesus “is” our life. It’s not just that he’s the one who gives us eternal life but that he’s the one in whom we delight above everything else put together. He’s the center of our universe. He’s everything to us. Is that the way you view Jesus?

 So, Paul’s point is that those of us who are united with Jesus belong to the heavenly realm even though we continue to exist in the earthly realm. And that’s why we need to put to death all of the sinful “earthly” tendencies that currently mark our lives. Verses 5-6: ⁵ Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ⁶ On account of these the wrath of God is coming.

So, even though we’ve been transformed in a radical way at our conversion, we continue to battle sinful tendencies. And according to Paul, there’s only one way to respond to these tendencies, and that is to put them to death. “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you.”  Of course, there’s a sense in which our old self was already put to death in our union with Jesus in his crucifixion. We died with Christ to our old way of living. However, it’s still necessary for us to live out that positional reality in a practical way—by actually killing whatever sinful tendencies we discover in our lives.

You might think of sin as a dictator who used to rule over us but who was overthrown by Jesus. However, even though sin no longer reigns over us or has any ability to condemn us, it nevertheless seeks to wreak havoc in our lives however it can. It’s gone from being a dictator to being a terrorist. And the only way to stop sin from wreaking havoc is to put it to death.

Paul’s language here indicates that we have to be absolutely ruthless in our struggle against sin and go to whatever measures are necessary—no matter how radical—to defeat the sins in our lives. Sin definitely won’t show us mercy, so we can’t show it mercy either.

And as we look at the particular sins Paul lists in verse 5, we see that they’re sexual in nature. “Sexual immorality” refers to any kind of sexual activity outside the boundaries of marriage. “Impurity” is an even more general term that encompasses anything that’s sexually inappropriate, including what we think in our minds. “Passion” and “evil desire” are closely related terms that refer to the sexual lusts that sometimes fill our hearts. And “covetousness” refers to a desire for more than we currently have of anything—often used of money but in this context probably being used with sexual overtones. And Paul says this “covetousness” is idolatry since we’re desiring that which we covet more than we desire God and are, in that way, setting it up in place of God in our lives.

And brothers and sisters, I believe this admonition to put to death sexual sin is one that Christians in our modern society—including each one of us—urgently need to hear. Because the fact is that sexual immorality of one form or another is so pervasive in our society that we’re basically swimming in it.

So, as briefly as I can, let me suggest 10 principles for overcoming sexual sin. 10 principles for overcoming sexual sin. First, remember your identity in Christ. As you’ll recall, winning the battle against sin begins in your mind. So, remember that you’ve been united with Jesus and are therefore no longer a slave of sin. As Paul says in Romans 6:6, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” So, whenever you’re tempted to sin, just remember: that’s not who you are any longer.

Second, delight yourself in God. The way to overcome sin isn’t simply by gritting your teeth and trying really hard but rather by cultivating a desire for God that’s greater than your desire for sin and therefore that displaces your desire for sin. When I’m full of a nice steak dinner, I’m no longer tempted to snack on stale potato chips. And when we’re full of joy and delight in God, we’re not tempted to fall into sin.

Third, renew your mind by immersing it in the Bible. There’s unique power in the Bible to transform us from the inside out. Although we’re blessed to have many other books and resources that help us on our spiritual journey, there’s something about the Bible—illumined by the Holy Spirit—that cleanses our minds and reorders our desires in a way that nothing else can. As the psalmist says to God in Psalm 119:11, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

Then, fourth, view sexual sin for what it is. It’s a disgusting distortion of God’s good gift of sex. Any time we’re sexually impure in any way, we’re taking an incredible gift that God designed to be enjoyed by a husband and wife and twisting it in a way that brings dishonor to God and eventually misery to ourselves. We’re responding to God’s goodness and grace with appalling contempt. So, consider the heinousness of sexual sin—and all other sin, for that matter. Or, as the Puritans liked to say, consider the utter sinfulness of sin.

Fifth, recognize the grave consequences of sexual sin—consequences related to your relationship with God, consequences related to your relationships with your spouse and children, and consequences to your own soul. Proverbs 6:27-28 states, ²⁷ Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? ²⁸ Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? In other words, don’t imagine that you can play with fire and avoid being burned. It’s only a matter of time before sin—and especially sexual sin—will destroy you.

Then number six, set appropriate boundaries. Make every effort to avoid being alone with someone of the opposite sex who’s not your spouse or a close family member unless they’re old enough to be your grandparent. And that includes being in a car alone together. Also, if pornography has been an issue for you, consider whether the temptation to view pornography has been especially strong in certain places or at certain times, and then try to avoid using your phone or even having your phone in those places or at those times.

Seventh, avoid things that trigger sexual temptation. If watching a certain kind of movie excites lust within you or triggers temptation to view pornography—even if the sexual elements in that movie are very subtle—then don’t watch that kind of movie. If the ads on a certain website often lead to you going places online you shouldn’t go, then don’t visit that website. I even suggest getting rid of your smartphone entirely if you have to and just making do with a flip phone. It all goes back to the idea of putting sin to death. You have to be absolutely ruthless and show sin no mercy. As John Owen has so famously said, “Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.”

Eight, act quickly at the first signs of temptation. It was much easier for Joseph to flee the sexual advances of Potiphar’s wife when she first tried to grab him than it would have been if he had allowed things to progress to the point of the two of them being undressed in the bedroom. Likewise, it’s much easier for us to flee sin at the first sign of temptation than it is after temptation has had time to pull us in. Like a boulder rolling down a hill, sin picks up momentum very quickly—so it’s critical that we stop it at the very beginning.

Number nine, ask another Christian to hold you accountable by directly inquiring about your struggle on a regular basis and to support you through prayer. And tenth, use filtering and/or accountability software to create more of a barrier between yourself and sexual sin—particularly pornography. I personally have Covenant Eyes installed on every electronic device I own. It takes a screenshot of each device every 60 seconds or so and then sends my wife a daily update with those screenshots.

So, hopefully these ten principles are helpful as we all seek to put to death every last remnant of sexual sin in our lives. Yet, as helpful as some of these practical measures might be, keep our mind that, ultimately, our hope for deliverance from sexual sin has to be in Christ himself.

Listen to this extended quote from John Owen, a Puritan from the 1600’s whom I’ve quoted several times because he’s just so good. He writes, “Set your faith on enlisting Christ to kill your sin. His blood is the great sovereign remedy for sin-sick souls. Live in this belief, and you will die a conqueror. Truly, you will live to see your lust dead at your feet….By faith ponder this: although you are unable to conquer your disease by yourself, and you are weary of fighting with it, and you are exhausted by it, there is enough strength in Jesus Christ to bring you relief….Let your soul admit this: ‘I am a pitiful, weak creature, unstable as water. I cannot excel. This corruption is too hard for me, and it is on the verge of ruining my soul. I do not know what to do. My soul has become like parched ground, and a habitat for dragons. I have made promises and broken them; vows and engagements have meant nothing to me....I should be delivered, but I am deceived. So I can plainly see that without some superior help, I am lost. If I continue on this path, I will be triumphed over until I completely relinquish God. But although this is my condition, let the hands that hang down be lifted up, and the weak knees be strengthened. Behold the Lord Christ, who has all the fullness of grace in his heart and all the fullness of power in his hand.” Amen to that.

Then, moving forward in our main passage, Paul continues instructing his readers about how they have to deal with sin. He writes in verses 7-8, ⁷ In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. ⁸ But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. So, whereas Paul’s first list focused primarily on sexual sins, this list focuses on social sins. “Anger” refers to a disposition of resentment and bitterness toward another person, while “wrath,” though similar, refers to a sudden outburst of anger in a particular moment. Then “malice” is a general term that refers to harmful intent toward others, “slander” refers to speaking lies about someone, and “obscene talk” refers to abusive or otherwise inappropriate speech.

And Paul says with regard to all of these things to “put them all away,” which is a verb that was frequently used for taking off clothes. Just like kids who have been playing in the mud have to peel off their filthy clothes afterwards, we’re supposed to take off and throw away the habits that belonged to our old life.

Paul then says in verses 9-10, ⁹ Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. So, just as we’ve put off the old and put on the new in a definitive way at our conversion, we need to now live that out in our daily behavior. And when you think about it, why would we want to go back to our old way of living anyway? 

The nineteenth century preacher Charles Spurgeon makes this point in an especially memorable way, though I’ve lightly edited his archaic language for our modern ears. Spurgeon states, “Christian, what have you to do with sin? Has it not cost you enough already? Burnt child, will you play with the fire? What! When you have already been between the jaws of the lion, will you step a second time into his den? Have you not had enough of the old serpent? Did he not poison all your veins once, and will you play upon the hole of the asp, and put your hand upon the dragon’s den a second time? Oh, be not so insane! so foolish! Did sin ever yield you real pleasure? Did you find solid satisfaction in it? If so, go back to your old drudgery, and wear the chain again, if it delights you. But inasmuch as sin did never give you what it promised to bestow, but deluded you with lies, be not a second time snared by the old fowler—be free, and let the remembrance of your ancient bondage prevent you from ever entering the net again!”

And that’s essentially the point Paul’s making to the Colossians throughout this passage. They’ve been given a new identity, and it’s out of that new identity that they need to live new lives. Imagine a married couple from America with a nice suburban home adopting a ten-year-old boy out of a situation of severe poverty in a developing nation. That boy would need to leave behind a lot of the old habits he had learned and acquire a lot of new habits in order to function well in his new living situation.  

For example, instead of going out to the nearest street corner and begging for food, he’d need to go to school and work hard to learn to read. Instead of running around barefoot everywhere, he’d need to put on socks and shoes whenever leaving the house. Now, it’s important to understand that these new habits don’t make that boy adopted—just as our new habits aren’t what make us Christians. Rather, it’s because of the boy’s adoption that he needs to leave behind many of the habits that belonged to his former life and learn the habits appropriate for his new life.

Likewise, that’s the task we have as well. And although it’s often true that old habits die hard, it’s equally true that, as those who are united with Christ, we have his resurrection power coursing through our veins. And it’s by drawing from that power that we have the ability to be done with the old and walk in the new. It all comes back to our union with Christ.