I. Put Off Sinful Living
A. That Is Not Who We Are Any Longer
1. Sin Brings God’s Wrath Upon The Unsaved V. 6
a. The things found in V.5 cause a person to be deserving of God’s judgment
b. Wrath- orge– anger, the natural disposition, temper, agitation of the soul, anger exhibited in punishment, hence used for punishment itself.
c. Rejecting God & choosing sin brings God’s wrath. See John 3:16-21, 35, 36
d. We decide if we are a son of disobedience or a son of God. See John 1:1-13
2. We Were Once Destined For God’s Wrath V. 7
a. Every Christian was at one time under the wrath of God
b. It is imperative that we realized that we deserved God’s judgment.
c. The concept of wrath & judgment is universally understood by all people
d. We must realize first & foremost: Jesus is the Savior of our souls, not simply an addition to make our lives better and more complete.
3. The Christian Makes A Conscious Decision To Follow Jesus Christ V. 9b
a. Put off – A verb of intention. We choose to turn away from the old life.
b. “Old man” – the former, unredeemed life, w/o God’s influence & power.
c. Sinner confesses their sin, accepts God’s pardon, is forgiven & born again.
d. All of this takes place consciously and voluntarily.
e. Believer’s Bible Commentary – In these verses we have a very clear illustration of the difference between a believer’s standing and state. His standing is that he has died. His state should be that of reckoning himself dead to sin by putting to death his members which are on the earth. Our standing is what we are in Christ. Our state is what we are in ourselves. Our standing is the free gift of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our state represents our response to God’s grace.
f. The old man is under an old master, Satan, the new man has a new master, God within. We live in two worlds. One passing, and one is coming.
g. V. 10 -Renewed- Literally-constantly being renewed. Constantly growing.
h. V. 11 – The Gospel is for all people groups. All people need Christ.
i. These were all worldly divisions that are not to exist in the Church.
B. What We Are To Put Off
1. Gnosticism was a growing heresy at Colossae.
a. Gnostics taught that the body was evil but couldn’t affect the spirit. Therefore they practiced all kinds of sensual indulgence.
b. Another Gnostic camp taught asceticism. Since the body was evil, it must be denied every pleasure, i.e., “don’t taste, don’t touch”, etc. They thought that by denying the flesh, the spiritual life was raised.
2. Since the Christian now has the nature of God influencing and empowering them to walk in holiness, they are to live out that nature, yield to that holy influence, depend on that power of God within.
3. They are to “put to death”-reckon (recognize) as dead
a. A death blow has been dealt to your old self, but it still fights to live.
i. Never say- “I can’t stop, I can’t help myself,” etc. Look to Jesus.
ii. 2 Timothy 2:2 “…be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”
b. V. 5- Fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, covetousness
i. Those have to do w/wanting & getting sexual gratification outside of marriage. Not just the acts, but the passionate desire. Col. 3:1, 2
ii. It is all characterized as “idolatry”.
c. V. 8, 9a – The mean spiritedness we show towards each other
i. anger -An abiding settled anger that includes the desire for revenge
ii. wrath – Sudden, violent anger.
iii. malice -Evil will, a desire to injure
iv. blasphemy – Language injurious to another’s good name.
v. filthy language out of your mouth – low, obscene speech.
vi. 9aDo not lie to one another- Literally: discontinue lying.
II. Put On
A. Why We Put On Christlikeness V. 12a
1. V. 12 – Bible teaches both God’s election of a person for salvation, & man’s free will to accept or reject the forgiveness that comes thru Jesus. (John 3:16-21)
2. V. 13b– A Christian is one who has been saved from God’s wrath, been forgiven of their sins, & promised Heaven. We do nothing to earn this; it is a free gift. Since all that is true, how can we not forgive each other? (Read Matt. 18:21-35)
3. Forgiveness has nothing to do w/emotions, but is a decision based upon the understanding of God’s forgiveness of you.
4. Degree of understanding = degree of forgiveness we are willing to extend.
B. What That Looks Like V. 12b-17
1. Put on – To clothe with. Before Christ we could only put on what we were.
2. Thayer– “to become so possessed o the mind of Christ as in thought, feeling, and action to resemble Him and, as it were, reproduce the life He lived.”
3. Put on the grace clothes, not the grave clothes.
a. The importance of forming new habits, breaking old patterns.
b. We naturally have a flesh driven set of responses and habits.
c. By God’s Spirit and power, we need to break the old habits, and develop a new set of responses. Godliness can be habit forming.
4. Vs. 12b-13 What our attitudes & actions towards one another ought to be.
5. V. 14 – Verses 12b & 13 are manifestations of agape love; but we must put on love.
a. Without actual agape love, we only go through the motions.
b. Bond of perfection – That which holds all together in maturity.
c. Immature Christian may act out these things, the mature possesses them.
d. We are talking about a state of being, not just a way of behaving.
6. Wiersbe – If a believer is out of fellowship with another believer, it is because one or both of them have gotten out of fellowship with God.
7. V. 15– Peace of God rule as opposed to letting anger, jealousy hatred rule. We decide not what we feel, but what we will surrender and submit to.
8. V. 16– Is God’s word dwelling in you richly, or is it “sprinkled” in a little?
a. Direct correlation between how much Word & how much worship/grace.
9. V. 17– There is no area that this concept is excluded from. Don’t debase the concept.