Colossians 3:5-11 (NIV)
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Paul includes here a long list of sinful attitudes and actions that he identifies as belonging to the sinful nature. These are the fruit of a tree that is rooted in sin, and naturally flow out from an unclean heart, just as righteous actions and attitudes flow naturally from a heart that is rooted in righteousness and holiness (Matthew 12:33-35).
However, it takes vigilance and effort to ensure that any time any of these actions and attitudes crop up they are dealt with immediately and ruthlessly. Just as the saying goes one bad apple spoils the whole barrel, ignoring or allowing a single sin will allow it to quickly spread its roots of evils all through a person’s life, ultimately fouling their whole soul.
It is very fashionable in some Christian circles to take one of three wrong attitudes towards sin. The first is to accept sin as the natural consequences of being human, and thus declare that it is no big deal. But this passage alone should demonstrate the error of that attitude. Paul is not urging acceptance of the naturalness of sin here, but is instead advocating that the smallest sin be ruthlessly illuminated as the enemy of sanctity that it truly is.
The second error is to expect God to simply eliminates sin from a person’s life once for all, and afterwards to rename sins that do appear as something more innocuous: errors, or human shortcomings. Paul clearly understood that with the new birth comes a clean slate, a fresh start, and genuine transformation of the heart that enables real holiness. But Satan is real, and he will try to lure God’s people into subtle sins, trying to undo the work that God has done in them. It is entirely possible for a washed pig to choose to go and wallow in the mud again (2 Peter 2:21-22). Paul is urging the Colossians to intentionally stay away from the sins that had formerly ensnared them, because the opportunities to fall back into them are still there.
The third error is to consider ourselves powerless against sin. This is different than believing that sins are simply endemic to humanity. Instead, this error recognizes that sin in a Christian’s life is completely inappropriate, but that person sees themselves as a victim, weak and powerless in the face of the powerful forces of evil that are arrayed against them. But Paul clearly tells the Colossians here, not that they are destined to lose the battle against sin, but that they must put all sin in their life to death, immediately and completely. This implies the assurance of victory. Paul is not urging them to “try”, but simply to “do”.
Once a person has put to death all sin in their lives (an act of the will empowered by the Holy Spirit), then they can put on the new self that is continually being molded into the image of Jesus (also an act of the will empowered by the Holy Spirit). And in this two- phase process taking off the old and putting on the new, there is no difference among people. The Jews have no advantage over the Greek, the circumcised are not ahead of the game, with the uncircumcised needing to catch up. All begin from exactly the same place. All must intentionally put off the old self and put on the new, with God’s help.
Father, I really like Paul’s clear, no-nonsense approach here. He knew, and had seen in case after case, that compromise, allowing even the smallest sin back into a heart that You have made clean, leads to death and destruction. No amount of “good theology” can make a heart clean or keep it clean. It takes active vigilance and ruthless action anytime temptation rears its head, just like a gardener never ignores the weeds that sprout in his garden. If he does, it won’t be long before there are more weeds than there are plants that he wants to grow. So, as soon as a weed appears, he pulls it up by the roots – no mercy! Lord, help me to be just as vigilant, just as ruthless with any sin in the garden of my own heart. Amen.