Put Sin to Death
Colossians: A Letter from Jail
Put Sin to Death
Colossians 3:5-11
Let’s turn to Colossians 3. My aim in preaching is – as much as possible – to keep my own ideas in the background and to bring God’s Word to the foreground – so you can see that what I am saying is found in God’s Word. That’s why I’d like each of you to have a Bible open in front of you. So if you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and one of the ushers will bring one to you. Colossians 3 is on page 984 in the Bibles we are passing out.
Let’s start with an illustration. Imagine that you were diagnosed with a malignant tumor: if nothing is done, this tumor will kill you. But you go to a specialist who performs an amazing operation which breaks the power of this tumor, and starts it shrinking.
But then the specialist tells you there are pills you must take whenever you feel the tumor start to grow. And if you will take the pills, the tumor will shrink, and as it continues to shrink, you will live. But he also tells you that if you do not take the pills, the tumor will grow, and if that happens, it can end up killing you.
Now that’s something like what’s happening in us spiritually. We all have inside us the malignant tumor of sin – heart-rebellion against God. And if nothing is done, sin will kill us by bringing us under God’s punishment forever. But through Jesus’ death on the Cross, God broke the power of our sin, and made our sin start to shrink.
But God tells us that there will be times when sin will try to grow. And whenever we feel it trying to grow, there’s something we must do: it’s called “putting sin to death.” He says that whenever we put sin to death, sin will not grow; it will shrink. And as long as it’s shrinking, we will live. But he also tells us that if we do not put sin to death, sin will grow, and if that happens, it can bring us under God’s punishment forever.
Now at this point there’s one crucial question you should have – where is that taught in God’s Word? “Interesting illustration, Pastor Steve, but where is that taught in God’s Word?” That’s the crucial question. And the answer is: right here in Colossians 3:5-11. Let’s read it together:
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.
Let’s start by being clear on what Paul is commanding. In v.5 he commands us to “put to death” various sins like sexual immorality, impurity, passion, and so forth. Then in v.8 Paul says the same thing in different words – we are to put away all sin – like anger, malice, and slander. So when we feel sin arising, we are to kill it; put it away.
And it’s crucial to understand that the reason you can do that is because, if you are trusting Jesus, then Jesus has already broken sin’s power. We have already seen that in Colossians 2:20 (“with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world”), and in Colossians 3:4 (“you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God”).
So Jesus has already broken sin’s power. But Jesus does not take sin away until heaven. Sin will still try to grow in us. And so whenever we feel sin trying to grow, we can – and must – kill it.
And in these verses Paul lists eleven specific sins we are to kill. We are to kill everything that is sin – but Paul specially lists eleven which were issues for the church in Colossae.
First he mentions sexual immorality. This is the Greek word porneia, which refers to any sexual involvement outside of heterosexual marriage. God created the gift of sex, and God created marriage as the place where sex is to be enjoyed. And sex should only be pursued in the context of marriage.
But there is a false teaching prevalent today which says the word porneia has nothing to do with pre-marital sex. But that’s just not true. You can see this in I Corinthians 7:2 --
But because of the temptation to sexual immorality [porneia], each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.
Notice that God’s answer to sexual temptation is marriage. Not dating. Not going steady. But marriage. So any sexual expression outside of marriage is against God’s will.
Next Paul mentions impurity and passion. These words overlap “sexual immorality” and cover things like pornography, masturbation, homosexuality, and so forth. So whenever your heart starts to move towards sexual desire or activity before marriage or outside of marriage – Paul says “kill it.”
Next Paul mentions evil desire and covetousness, which is idolatry. This is when we desire anything more than Jesus. See, Jesus is the all-satisfying prize of the universe, infinitely more satisfying than money or power or sex or food or vacations or recognition. When you behold Jesus, when you know Jesus, your heart is completely satisfied and lastingly satisfied.
But when we desire something else more than Jesus – that’s idolatry – because we are worshiping something besides Jesus. So whenever we start to desire something more than Jesus, that’s idolatry – and Paul says “kill it.”
Next, in v.8, Paul mentions anger and wrath and malice. I’ll lump those together. Anger is an intense displeasure over something that has caused you loss. Someone backs into your brand new car – you feel intense displeasure over the loss of your perfect car.
Now there is such a thing as righteous anger – when you feel intense displeasure over something that has profaned God’s glory, or that has caused someone else loss. Righteous anger is good – if we use it biblically. But that’s not what Paul is talking about here.
Here Paul tells us that we are to put away all anger, wrath, or malice.
Next Paul mentions slander. That’s where we speak critically of someone to others. Now there are times when we need to raise issues with each other – and God tells us to do that privately and humbly and lovingly. That’s not slander. Generally speaking, slander is when we speak critically of someone when they are not there. And Paul says we must put away all slander.
Then Paul mentions obscene talk. Every culture has some words which are viewed as offensive. That’s what Paul has in mind here. The problem with using offensive words is that they give unnecessary offense, they distract people from what you are saying, and they usually show that my heart is angry, rebellious, or mocking. So Paul is commanding us to put away all obscene talk.
And finally Paul mentions lying. The problem with lying is that I am telling Jesus that He can’t handle reality, that he can’t take care of me with things as they are; so I have to take matters into my own hands, and disobey Him by falsifying reality. So I lie to my boss about my expense report, I lie to the IRS about my income, I lie to my wife about why I came home late. So lying means I’m not trusting Jesus to take care of me. And Paul tells us to put away all lying – to kill all lying.
So this is what we are to put away – this is what we are to kill. But how? How can we kill these? How can we put these away?
First of all, notice that we can kill these. The face that Paul commands us to kill them, shows that we can kill them. The reason we can kill them is because by God’s mercy, through the Cross, we have died to sin and been raised up with Christ, so therefore you, in reliance on God’s power, can kill these. You can kill sexual immorality, covetousness, anger, slander, and lying. This is wonderful news!
But how? Notice that Paul doesn’t just give us commands – kill sin! He also gives us reasons. Paul doesn’t say – just do it. No, Paul gives us reasons. For example, notice in v.5 – “put to death therefore what is earthly in you.” The word “therefore” shows that what Paul has said in the previous verse, in verse 4, is a reason for why we kill sin.
So that’s how we obey this command to kill sin – by understanding the reasons, thinking deeply about the reasons, praying over the reasons until our hearts are changed so we don’t want sexual immorality anymore, we don’t want to slander anymore, we don’t want to lie anymore.
And as I studied these verses, I saw Paul giving us three reasons. And the way to kill sin is by meditating on these reasons, and praying over these reasons, until we feel the truth of these reasons – because when we do that, we’ve killed the sin.
First, see and feel that Christ is your life now and forever. Notice again that word “therefore” in v.5. Paul is saying that one reason we should kill sin is because of what he has just said in v.4 – so look again at v.4, along with v.5 --
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…
So what motivates us to put sin to death is the truth that Christ is our life now and forever. See, every sin is telling you that life is found outside of Jesus. That’s the root of every sin. Life is found in sexual pleasure – so you pursue sexual immorality; life is found in money, so your are covetousness; life is found in having a shiny new car with a perfect body, so you are angry at the one who dented your car.
But life is not found outside of Jesus. Life now and forever is found only in Jesus. The life you crave is found only in knowing Jesus, worshiping Jesus, beholding Jesus, fellowshipping with Jesus.
But our problem is that we don’t always feel that as true. And so we need to open up God’s Word, ask Jesus to change our hearts, and set our hearts upon the truth of Jesus until we see and feel and love Him as our life.
So if you are tempted to lie about your income to the IRS, turn off the computer, open your Bible, cry out to Jesus for help, and set your mind on the truth of who Jesus is until you see the truth that He is infinitely more desirable than a little more money.
Or if you are angry at someone for keying your car, get some time alone or with your spouse or home group, open your Bible, cry out to Jesus for help, and set your mind on the truth of who Jesus is until you see that He is infinitely more valuable than a brand new car with a brand new paint job – that will kill your anger, and bring you peace and comfort.
So that’s one step – see and feel that Christ is your life now and forever.
Second, understand that God’s wrath will come upon those who don’t resist sin. Notice what Paul says in v.6 –
On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
Now this does not mean that if you have a lustful thought this afternoon, then you are doomed to God’s wrath. God does not say that saved people never have lustful thoughts. But God does say that saved people hate lust, because lust disobeys Jesus. And so when they are tempted with wrong thoughts, they resist temptation, they fight to put it to death. And if they stumble, then they confess it to Jesus, they repent, and resolve to kill lust. And as a result, saved people will lust less and less.
So we must understand that God’s wrath will come, not upon those who are without sin, but upon those who don’t resist sin. And so if we are complacent about sin, if we don’t resist sin, then God’s wrath will come upon us. It will. Forever and ever.
Not because we earn heaven by sexual purity. None of us could pull that off. We are saved only by trusting Jesus who paid for all of our sexual immorality on the Cross, and whose perfect sexual purity is credited to us as a gift when we trust Him. We are only saved by trusting Jesus.
So how can you tell you are trusting Jesus? Well, if you trust Jesus, and he calls us to sexual purity, you will resist sexual sin. You’ll confess sexual sin, repent over sexual sin, seek to kill sexual sin. But if we don’t confess, repent, seek to kill sexual sin, this shows that we are not trusting Jesus. And if we are not trusting Jesus, then the wrath of God will come upon us.
That’s what Paul wants us to feel – that if I continue in sin, then I’m not trusting Jesus, and if I’m not trusting Jesus, then God’s wrath will come upon me. Paul wants us to feel this – because when we do – we will trust Jesus, and seek to kill sin.
Third, understand that God’s power will renew you through knowledge of Jesus. I see that in v.10 – but start with v.9 –
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.
When you trusted Jesus, by God’s grace you put off the old self and put on a new self. And Paul tells us something crucial about this new self – it is being renewed by God in knowledge after the image of its creator.
In other words, if you have been saved, then God’s power is at work in you, renewing your feelings and thinking and actions through the knowledge of Jesus.
So no matter how steeped in sin you might be – if you will set your mind on the knowledge of Jesus, pray over the truth of Jesus, think deeply about who Jesus is – God’s power will go to work to change you, renew you, transform you – and sin will be killed.
Any questions?
Christ is your life now and forever.
God’s wrath will come on those who don’t seek to kill sin.
God’s power will renew you through the knowledge of Jesus.
So kill sin. Put away sin. All of it.