Heritage Reformed Baptist Mission
COLOSSIANS
A small letter with a large meaning
Sermon 9
Kill the One, Receive the Other
Colossians 3:5-11
A major part of being heavenly minded is dealing severely with the carnal nature, especially what it produces. What it produces are sinful thoughts and deeds. Dealing severely with them is to kill them outright. Premeditated, first-degree, capital murder! Impossible? Not at all!
Believers have died with Christ. They are dead to sin’s rule. They are dead to self. In Christ, and only in Christ, they are able to overcome and actually put to death the sinful things produced by the carnal nature. If that were not so, Paul, by the direction of the Holy Spirit, would not have commanded they be killed.
Paul describes these sins as “your members which are on earth.” They are the body of sins contained in the old nature which are acted out in the members of the physical body. They are earthly, physical as opposed to heavenly, spiritual. They are the sole personal property of every believer so long as residence in the physical body remains. They are under the believer’s control as being alive in Christ rather than dead in trespasses and sins. Therefore, the believer can and must kill them. What are they?
Paul names the following: (1) “fornication,” any illicit sexual intercourse of any kind; (2) “uncleanness,” impurity of thought and deed; (3) “inordinate affection,” depraved, vile passion; (4) “evil concupiscence,” wrong, lustful desire; (5) “covetousness,” greedy desire to have what is forbidden; for example, another’s wife, house, possessions (see Exodus 20:17), as well as to have more of the things of the world than are necessary; and, (6) “idolatry,” the worship of anything other than God and that includes “covetousness.”
“God is love” but He has a perfect hatred for sin. It provokes Him to pour out His wrath upon “the children of disobedience.” Who are they? Paul describes them and their end in these words, “. . . when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9) Even now they are under God’s wrath. See John 3:36.
Since God hates sin, His children also must hate it. A true believer, once knowing what sin is, will hate it. Thus, Paul names them. They are the very sins which were the Colossian believers’ way of life before they trusted the Lord Jesus Christ. They were the guiding principles of their lives. Every thought was influenced by them. Is it too much to say the same for every child born of woman?
The sins so far named are not all which must be killed. There are more. They must be laid aside, put away as filthy, ragged clothing would be discarded. They are: (1) “anger,” an internal rise of passion, zeal against something or someone, which is good against sin; but against others it is dangerous and may break out in (2) “wrath,” an outburst of anger, loss of temper in word or deed, and may culminate in (3) “malice,” a desire to inflict injury; (4) “filthy communication,” low, abusive, obscene language “out of your mouth,” the body part which is most often used by the old nature to manifest itself; and, (5) “lie not,” stop lying, a vice which is very prevalent among unbelievers and should not ever be named among believers, especially in their dealings with one another, though not to be ignored with everyone.
It is possible for believers to kill these sins because they have completely disrobed, discarded and been separated from the sinful human nature and its “deeds”. In place thereof they have been clothed with a “new creation.” See 2 Corinthians 5:17. The old nature has not been renovated. It has been torn down and a completely new nature created by God. The new nature will experience a continual renewing, growing in grace and into the full knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That growth will culminate in God’s predestinating purpose, which is that all believers be totally conformed to the image of His dear Son. See Romans 8:29.
In Christ, the new nature is neither ethnic nor racial. It is neither the product of religious rituals, such as circumcision, nor the lack of them. It is not limited by social class. All are equal in Christ. He is all. The Creator of heaven and earth and all that is in them; the Creator of the new creation, the new birth, salvation; the Head of His body, the church; the Ruler of angels and all other spirit beings. He is all wisdom and knowledge. He is all the fullness of the Godhead in a human body. He is everything His people need for justification, sanctification and glorification. He indwells all who believe on Him through the Holy Spirit no matter who they are or where they are. He has done away with all distinctions. All of the names of people and classes of people named by Paul have been replaced with “Christian” and “brother”. To God be the glory!!!