In our study of the book of Colossians, we have moved into the practical applications of the doctrines the Apostle Paul taught in chapters one and two. The basis of this command to live godly, Christ-centered lives is that every believer in Christ has been completely identified with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as Paul stated in verses one through four of chapter three. The next significant section of Colossians is verses five through seventeen in chapter three, which explain what the Lord Jesus demands of His followers. These are considered negatively (things we should not do) in verses five through eleven and positively (things we should do) in verses twelve through seventeen.
These two paragraphs, showing negative and positive commands, are called a vice list (for the sins we are to remove) and a virtue list (for those things we are to include). Lists like this are found in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. For example, Psalm 1:1-2 gives us a short vice and virtue list. Verse one is the vice list: “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers!” Clearly, we are not to walk with the advice of wicked people nor walk together with sinners who choose to sin nor sit together with those who mock and scorn God and His Word. The second verse calls us to live with righteous virtue, “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.” Put simply, we are not to do what sinful, Christ-rejecting people do, but we are to delight in God’s law, which tells us what is right and think deeply about His truth day and night.
We find a similar, but larger list in Deuteronomy 27 and 28. Here, Moses begins his exhortation with the negative list of vices which he calls curses. If you read them carefully, you will find that they lead us to the practical application of biblical truth. In each case, Moses identified a vice or a sin and the people responded by saying “Amen.” For example, he said, “Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.” That’s practical! “Cursed is he who distorts the justice due and alien, orphan, or widow.” Moses then went through a list of sins that are sexually immoral. He concluded this list by saying, “Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.” And all the people shall say, Amen.
Beginning in chapter twenty-eight, Moses taught the virtues or blessings that come from submitting to God’s authority and obeying His Word. He stated, “All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God.” What follows is a list of blessings which God will bring to His obedient people.
I want to look more carefully at the vice or sin lists in the New Testament written by the Apostle Paul. I will look at three of them plus the list from the book of Colossians. Paul did include more lists, and more of them are found in the Bible study sheet found in today’s bulletin. First, let’s look at the list in Romans 1:28-32.
Here are the items found in this list: Unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful. That is quite a list. Now, please notice who the people are who are part of this list of sins or vices. According to verses twenty-eight, they are people whom God gave over to a depraved mind and who will do those things which are not proper. In other words, these are unregenerate, unsaved, and unbelievers. These people are completely and totally lost and without any hope of redemption in their current condition. Their minds are depraved and they are ruled by their depravity. This is a list of the sinful actions sinners do because they are lost and on their way to eternal judgment.
Now, let’s turn to the book of Galatians 5:19-21 and look at a second vice list. In this case, Paul calls these, “the deeds of the flesh.” This list includes: Immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing.” There are many similarities with the sin list in Romans. In this case, Paul does not point to the sinner’s depraved mind as much as he does to the rebellious nature of the sinner choosing to walk in the flesh; that is, by his or her own desires and ambitions. In addition, he added the fact that people consumed by these actions are not saved and will be eternally judged because, as he says, they will not inherit the kingdom of God. They clearly cannot and will not be saved and their actions prove their lost condition.
Now turn with me to Second Timothy three and read a third list. Here, Paul’s list of vices includes: “Lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.” Once again, I am sure you noted some similarities with the previous lists. This time, however, Paul points toward the sinful conditions that will prevail in the last times. This is a prophetic glance at the deplorable and depraved condition of the human race in the days just before Jesus will return. Once more, these people are not saved. These are people who have depraved minds and rejected in regard to the faith.
Finally, look at our text in Colossians three and verse five. In this sin list Paul included: Immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry…anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech.” Christians should not be known for any of these vices because they belong to the old self and the Christian must lay these things aside and never pick them up again.
I must tell you that committing the sins of these passages will not be the reason a person is eternally lost and under God’s judgment. The reason any man or woman is condemned forever is because they have rejected Jesus Christ as their Lord and Master. We must remember John 3:36, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” If a person is lost it is because he or she refused to receive Jesus as their Lord.
I took my main points from the three commands or imperatives found in these verses. Those commands are “put to death” (verse 5), “rid yourself” (verse 8), and “do not lie” (verse 9). We will begin with “put to death”.
PUT TO DEATH. Colossians 3:5-7
Sins to Put to Death. The purpose of these verses is to show a practical way God intends to reveal to the world that our lives are hidden with Christ in Him. The goal in our Christian experience is to do more than simply regulate our old life but to completely surrender our lives to the Lord Jesus so that He has full control of our lives. To do that our sinful actions, thoughts, and habits must be uprooted and completely destroyed. The fact that the personal command, “consider the members of your earthly body dead” shows that this will require the act of the Christian’s regenerated will. We must desire to show by our redeemed thoughts and obedience the inward holiness placed within us by the Holy Spirit. Since the Lord Jesus Christ lives within each believer and He must have the first place in everything, our lives must grow to reflect His holiness.
Clearly, the Lord’s holiness reflects itself through our biblically ethical and moral behavior. Sin corrupts our morality, therefore, as born-again believers, we must die to immorality (sexual activity outside of the marriage between a man and a woman), impurity (all types of unclean thoughts and behaviors), and passion (the physical and evil desires that come from an unregenerate mind. This is precisely what our Lord had in mind in Matthew 5:27-28, “You have heard that it was said, ‘you shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Paul’s list continues with evil desire, (evil cravings God forbids), and greed (the insatiable desire for more). Since greed replaces our desire for living a holy life in obedience to the Lord with something of this world, the Spirit-inspired text tells us this is idolatry.
The Wrath of God. Immorality, impurity, evil desire, and greed are the very reasons God’s wrath will fall on those who refuse to receive Christ. The Lord Jesus said, “Men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). And here, the lost, the unregenerate refuse to obey God and turn from their wicked ways and choose to reject salvation in Christ. Because they have remained unrepentant and, in their sins, they will face God’s wrath and will stand before Him in judgment and be eternally condemned. Paul’s argument is that since this is true, and the unsaved show their rebellion through these actions, Christians should remove all that even resembles such sins from their lives. Nothing in the Christian’s life should give any impression of the activities of those who are unsaved.
The Sins You Used to Live In. Along with not appearing to be anything like the depraved world around us, Christians need to make a complete change from their sinful behaviors and lifestyles they had before becoming a believer. The Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself as a sacrifice for our sins to remove us from the pollution and corruption of this world. Through His grace, He lives within us to protect us from this evil world system and transform us to be holy as He is holy. The Christian’s life should show the marvel of His grace and that means removing sin from our lives.
RID YOURSELF. Colossians 3:8
Put Them All Aside. In the book of Colossians, Paul has already told us that we “have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world” (Colossians 2:20), and that we “have died and our lives are hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). Now he tells us to put all sinful behaviors aside and not live in them anymore. This is the trajectory for every Christian. This is what the Lord desires from each believer. Here, the apostle adds to his catalogue of sin. Repulsive habits–anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language–do not fit or suit Christians. They are unbecoming to believers. Anger is a chronic attitude of smoldering hatred, whereas wrath is an acute outburst. Malice is the vice that lies below anger and rage is their root and is forbidden, as is slander, railing or speaking evil of another person. Abusive speech is shameful or abrasive speech.
Words Reveal Character. Christians would be wise to remember the words of our Lord, who said, “33Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. 34You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. 35The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. 36But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. 37For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:33-37). Yes, you heard the Lord’s words correctly, every word of anger, malice, slander and abusive speech will be judged. For every careless word we must give an account.
DO NOT LIE. Colossians 3:9-11
Do Not Lie to One Another. I am not sure what was happening among the believers of this local church. I cannot imagine that as these Christians gathered for worship on Sunday morning that some of them were lying to each other. It does appear, however, that Paul had received word while in a Roman prison that such things were happening. This is absolutely inconsistent with what it means to be a Christian. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). How could anyone who has chosen to follow the One who is truth, lie to other believers? Lying and all the other vices Paul mentioned are inappropriate for a Christian, for at salvation he discarded his old self with its practices. A Christian should be truthful at all times.
Put On the New Self. Because we are alive in Christ, we must seek the things that are above. And, because we died with Christ, we must put off the things that belong to the earthly life of past sin. The result is that we can become like Jesus Christ! God wants to renew us and make us into the image of His Son! The verbs translated put off and put on indicate a once-for-all action. When we trust Christ, we put off the old life and put on the new. The old man has been buried, and the new man is now in control.
These words picture a complete change. Paul wants us to imagine a person wearing a filthy, foul, and threadbare garment. That garment is entirely removed and is replaced by a new one that is beautiful and perfect. The new self is brought about by God’s spiritual transformation process. I am sure you remember the words of Romans 12:1-2, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” In Christ we are being continually renewed and transformed. This renewal takes place through a “true knowledge” of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the One who created each of us and gave each believer new life.
Many Christians attempt to evade the truth on which the New Testament insists, that a Christianity that does not change the believing brother or sister in Christ is not a genuine Christianity. This change is progressive through a continual renewal. It empowers the Christian man and the Christian woman to grow in grace and knowledge until ultimately, they conform to the image of Jesus Christ.
Christ Is All in All. In the Lord Jesus Christ distinctions are removed. These include national distinctions, religious distinctions, cultural distinctions, and economic or social distinctions. If a Greek, an uncircumcised person, a barbarian, a Scythian, or a slave became a believer, he was a new creation, and a new person. For Christ is all, and is in all. That is, normal human distinctions are overruled and transfigured by one’s union in Christ. All barriers are destroyed in Christ, and all believers are truly “created equal.” So it is to be expected that each believer–regardless of nationality, former religion, culture, or economic standing–should do away with his former sinful practices and should live in accord with his “new self.”
One Bible scholar illustrated this new relationship with the Lord Jesus this way. Believers are like immigrants to a new country, not completely accustomed to its ways of life. They have accepted citizenship in a new world and must learn to live in it. We learn from Paul’s list of vices that for Christians to conform to the image of Jesus Christ, they must apply continuous and consistent effort through the study of God’s Word and living in obedience to the Lord’s commands. We also learn that God has given us the Holy Spirit, so that when we yield ourselves to the Spirit’s control of our lives, we grow closer to our Lord and further away from our old sinful life. Christian brother or sister, if you saw yourself in any of the words of Paul’s vice list, it is time to take off the old, leave it aside and embrace a new lifestyle and behavior in Christ.
Have you received Christ as your personal Savior and Lord? What Paul said in these verses is true. The wrath of God is coming and He will judge those who remain in their rebellion and disobedience. Yet, even as the day of His wrath draws nearer, He beckons you with His grace and offers you a free and eternal pardon. He can do that because Jesus took our sins upon Himself in His sacrifice on the cross and if you will believe in Him as your Savior, He will forgive your sins and grant you everlasting life. Will you trust Him today?
