“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience…”
(Colossians 3:12)
Read: Colossians 3:1-17
Devotion: Sin is tantalizing. There is a reason why the desire to sin is called ‘temptation.’ It’s because sin actually attracts us, and we have a strong desire to partake of it. Before the Holy Spirit grants us a new nature through faith in Christ, sin is our only desire. In our fallen state we are enslaved to sin, hostile to God, and incapable of submitting to God’s law (Rom 6:6, 8:7).
However, after God’s love is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit giving us a new nature that has eyes to see the deceit of sin and need for Christ, we are freed by Christ from our former enslavement. We now delight in the law of God in our inner beings and want to do right (Rom 7:21-22).
Despite this new nature and new desires, however, we still find ourselves falling for the same old lies of sin that we used to fall for (Rom 7:15). Sin still is tantalizing to us. Granted, it is not as alluring to the same degree as it once was, but the desire for sin is still resides inside of us. We still have our flesh and its desires which are opposed to the indwelling Spirit and his desires (Gal 5:17). Our new nature is not perfect. What are we to do? How are we to live according to our new nature in Christ and our initial repentance? How do we love Christ more than our sin? Paul gives us three helpful commands for this in Colossians 3.
First, we are to seek the things that are above (v. 1). Here Paul calls us to reflect on our new life. We have died and been raised with Christ (v. 3). He uses this kind of language in his other letters as well. We have died to sin (Rom 6:2), to the world and its trappings (Col 2:20), and we have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal 5:24). The problem is that we don’t always think like this or live like this. The heart of this command in Colossians 3:1 for us to set our minds on things that are above. Rather than thinking about our former desires and what we liked to do when our former nature was enslaved to sin, we are to think about Christ and heavenly realities. We are to meditate on Christ’s return and how we will appear with Him in glory (v. 4).
Second, because glorification with Christ is our future, we are called to put to death what is earthly in us (v. 5). What is earthly within us? It’s our lingering sin, otherwise called indwelling sin. It’s those sinful desires and practices that remain in us even after our conversion: “sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk, and lying (Col 3:6-9). Some sins are longstanding transgressions that we are well aware of and which we have a history with. Other sins may be “newer” to us as we respond to novel situations.
Whatever these sins are, and whatever our history is with them, we are called to put them to death. We are to put them off and put on the new self (v. 10). Again, this is not a mere outward practice. Yes, we should avoid situations that we know lead us into temptation (Rom 13:14), but that is not where we end our fight against sin. If we were thieves before Christ, it’s not enough to now avoid picking people’s pockets but maintain hearts that are still full of envy toward other’s possessions. In such a case, we really haven’t dealt with our sin. We haven’t slayed it. Putting our sin to death takes more than mere physical restraint. We need to be renewed in our knowledge after the image of our God (v. 10), and we need to meditate on our status as freed men and women in Christ (v. 11).
Putting our sin to death takes more than mere physical restraint.
Third, in this fight against sin, we need to replace our sinful desires and practices with godly character and practices. As our minds are renewed through the Scriptures, being transformed according to the image of Christ through the working of the Holy Spirit, our inward and outward life will reflect this transformation. Not only will our desires change, but our actions and speech toward others will change as well.
Again, notice that heart change is required for this kind renewal (v. 12). Our actions and words and thoughts flow out of our hearts (cf. Prov 4:23). That is why we are reliant on the Spirit. That is why we must meditate on the truths of Scripture (v. 16). That is why we need one another (v. 16), and why mere physical restraints are not enough.
But what is immensely comforting in all of this is that though we may often fail in our struggle against sin, we have a God and Savior who is faithful. He is our life and when He appears, we will appear with Him in glory. Therefore, let us fill our hearts with gratitude toward Him, letting everything we do spring from that well of thankfulness, for it will be so much more difficult to fall into sin when our hearts are singing God’s praises (v. 17).
Ponder and Pray: Consider what Paul means in his command for us to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,” and what role that plays in the fight against sin. Pray for God’s help against specific sins.
