14. Your Purity – Take Time to Be Holy (1)

Hymns: RHC 522 Jesus Bids Us Shine 414 Is Your All On the Altar 409 Take Time to Be Holy 

Colossians 3:5-17

⁵ Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: ⁶ For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: ⁷ In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. ⁸ But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. ⁹ Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 

¹⁰ And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: ¹¹ Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. ¹² Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; ¹³ Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. ¹⁴ And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. ¹⁵ And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. ¹⁷ And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. (Col. 3:5-17 KJV)

Your Purity – Take Time to Be Holy (1) 

OUTLINE

• Put Off the Old Man (v5-9)
• Put On the New Man (v10-17) 

INTRODUCTION

The practical aspect of our new life in Christ is given a full description by showing us that which is evil and we are to put them off and that which is good, which we are to put on. However, he explains that how we are to put away sin and how we may live a holy life. It is a hand-holding walk that he brings us through this section. He is elaborating how we can set our affections on heavenly virtues that tends to life and the earthly that tends to death.

Colossians 3:1-4 (KJV) If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

Our claim of being Christians entail that we live the life of a true Christian. There is a glorious future with Christ for the true Christian. This is how we should live.

• Put Off the Old Man (v5-9)

⁵ Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: ⁶ For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: ⁷ In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. ⁸ But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. ⁹ Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 

He brings by the word “mortify” from which the same Latin word as mortuary—a place where you put dead people. To mortify means to destroy the strength of something, to destroy its vitality, to subdue or deaden. The word mortify implies that sin will not die out of itself but that we must kill it and death can be a painful process. Put them to death. Kill them. Take no prisoners. Show no mercy. That’s what Paul is commanding. This is not the self-denial of asceticism but because we now have a new heart, a new desire, a new power…Christ in us and we by His Spirit now kill those passions one by one. [Precept Austin]

The secular dictionary definition speaks of subduing our bodily appetites especially by fleshly acts such as abstinence or self-inflicted pain or discomfort! 

In other words, we are to show no more mercy to the “old man” than to the “right eye” or the “right hand” that offends us, for as our Lord Jesus warned…

You have heard that it was said, ‘THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. 

Matthew 5:27-28 (KJV) Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Now consider this logic – the flesh trying to kill the flesh! That is utterly absurd. It is total foolishness and ultimately total failure!

Either we mortify the flesh in the grace and power of the Spirit of God or the resilient, depraved flesh will “kill” our spiritual life, removing the supernatural power, the inexpressible joy, the abundant fruit, the privilege of usefulness to God and the life of daily victory in Jesus and His cross (1 Corinthians 1:18).

1 Corinthians 1:18 (KJV) For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

Paul is painting a very strong picture here, one suggesting that we are not simply to suppress or control evil acts and attitudes. We are to wipe them out, completely exterminate the old way of life.

Slay utterly may express its force. As discussed earlier the form of the verb (aorist imperative) makes it clear that the action is to be undertaken decisively and with a sense of urgency. Both the meaning of the verb and the force of the tense suggest a vigorous, painful act of personal determination. [Precept Austin]

⁵ Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; 

The earthly connotation is expressed here as opposed to the heavenly life. Members is literally a limb or member of the body. In the plural (as in this verse) “members” refers to the seat of the desires and passions.

Sow a thought, reap an action.
Sow an action, reap a habit.
Sow a habit, reap a character.
Sow a character, reap a destiny.

… fornication, 

Fornication – generally, of every kind of extramarital, unlawful, or unnatural sexual intercourse fornication, sexual immorality, prostitution (1Corinthians 5.1); 

When distinguished from adultery (μοιχεία) in the same context extramarital intercourse, sexual immorality, fornication (Matthew 15.19); 

As a synonym for μοιχεία (marital) unfaithfulness, adultery (Matthew 5:32); metaphorically, as apostasy from God through idolatry (spiritual) immorality, unfaithfulness (Revelation 19.2).

Uncleanness …

ἀκαθαρσία, ας, ἡ literally worthless material, waste; of graves decayed flesh, causing ceremonial uncleanness, defilement (Matthew 23.27); figuratively, moral uncleanness, impurity (1Thessalonians 2.3), opposite ἁγιασμός (holy living); of sexual vice immorality, indecency, sexual impurity (Romans 1.24). [Friberg Lexicon]

Matthew 23:27 (KJV) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

1 Thessalonians 2:3 (KJV) For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile:

Romans 1:24 (KJV) Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

inordinate affection … uncontrolled sexual passion, lustful desire, evil craving.

πάθος as an experience suffering, misfortune; as a strong emotion of desire or craving passion; in the NT only in a bad sense uncontrolled sexual passion, lustful desire, evil craving (Colossians 3:5). [Friberg Lexicon]

evil concupiscence … 

ἐπιθυμία in a neutral sense strong impulse or desire (Mark 4:19); in a good sense of natural and legitimate desire eager) longing, earnest) desire (1Thessalonians 2:17), in a bad sense of unrestrained desire for something forbidden lust, craving, evil desire (1 Timothy 6:9). [Friberg Lexicon]

Mark 4:19 (KJV) And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

1 Thessalonians 2:17 (KJV) But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.

1 Timothy 6:9 (KJV) But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

… and covetousness, which is idolatry:

πλεονεξία as bad behavior, a disposition to have more than one’s share greed, covetousness, avarice (Luke 12:15); as a matter of being compelled to, as what is grudgingly given (2 Corinthians 9:5).

⁶ For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: ⁷ In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.

Such sins bring God’s wrath. Whereas in time past we know not God, we were blind but now that the light of the truth is shone in our hearts, we can understand what is purity and what is sin and uncleanness, we therefore are exhorted not to stay clear and live a life befitting of our identify as Christ’s very own.

⁸ But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. ⁹ Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 

“Put off” means to “lay aside”. One of our brethren, I recall, testified that that are bed bugs that would crawl upon her in the night at 3am and she had to change her clothing at that time because the bugs would disturb her peace and bite her.

Putting them aside – During the Civil War, a Confederate soldier from Virginia became so tired of living in his lice-infested clothes that he decided to do something about it. He wrote his wife with instructions to meet him at a certain place on a certain day, bringing with her a fresh change of clothes and a jug of kerosene. The soldier met his wife at the designated spot, bathed in the kerosene to rid himself of the lice, then burned his infested clothes and returned to his unit. When Christ conquered sin on the cross, sin was drained of its ability to enslave us. Through the Holy Spirit, we have all the power we need to say no to the downward pull of the old life. It is our responsibility to use this power and turn away from sin. [Precept Austin

Put Aside (apotithemi from apo = away from, marker of dissociation, implying a rupture from a former association, separation, departure, cessation, any separation of one thing from another by which the union or fellowship of the two is destroyed + tithemi = put, place) means literally to put or take something away from its normal location and put it out of the way. 

Figuratively the idea is to cease doing what one is accustomed to doing. Stop doing it. “Throw” it off. Be done with it. 

⁸ But now ye also put off all these; anger … 

Anger (orge) is a deep, smoldering, resentful bitterness. It is the settled heart attitude of the angry person. Provocations do not create his anger, but merely reveal that he is an angry person and give him a target for his fury. That has no place in a Christian’s life (Ephesians 4:26, 31).

Ephesians 4:26 (KJV) Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

Ephesians 4:31 (KJV) Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

Wrath …

Wrath (outbursts of anger, rage, indignation) (thumos) is an intense expression of the inner self, frequently expressed as strong indignation, a state of intense displeasure or rage (violent and uncontrolled anger or a fit of violent wrath).

As noted above orge anger suggests a more settled or abiding condition of mind, frequently with a view to taking revenge.

Orge is less sudden in its rise than thumos, but more lasting in it nature.

Thumos expresses more the inward feeling, orge the more active emotion.

Thumos may issue in revenge, though it does not necessarily include it. It is characteristic that it quickly blazes up and quickly subsides, though that is not necessarily implied in each case.

Thumos refers to a burning anger which flares up and burns with the intensity of a fire. In fact the Greeks likened it to a fire in straw, which flares up briefly and is gone. That external anger. A violent temper. If you see this type of behaviour continually in a person, they either are not saved or they are not living in the truth that they are complete in Christ.

Malice …

Malice  (kakia) describes a mean-spirited or vicious attitude or disposition. It is a wickedness as an evil habit of one’s mind, which includes a desire to harm other people and often hides behind apparently good actions (1 Peter 2:16). This sin is not only a viciousness toward another person, but also results in a wrong attitude toward God.

In reference to behaviour kakia conveys the idea of a mean-spirited or vicious attitude or disposition as indicated by words such as malice, ill-will, hatefulness, and dislike. It is an attitude of wickedness as an evil habit of one’s mind. Kakia is used in NT to describe the wickedness which comes from within a person. 

Malice describes a vicious intention and expresses the desire to hurt another and rejoices in it!

Malice is not only a moral deficiency but destroys fellowship. To varying degrees, the unsaved spend their life maliciously.

Blasphemy …

generally harmful, abusive speech against someone’s reputation; slander, reviling, evil speaking (Colossians 3:8); predominately of speech that is against the nature and power of God blasphemy, insult, outrage (Matthew 26:65).

Matthew 26:65 (KJV) Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.

Blasphemia is translated “blasphemy” when it is against God and slander when against men, although slander against men is blasphemy against God Who created men (James 3:9).

We are also to “put off blasphemy. This dreadful sin may be directed either godward or manward. Men blaspheme against God by imputing evil to Him, or by seeking to misrepresent Him, or by perverting the truth about the Father, the Son, or the Spirit. But speaking injuriously of one another, reviling rulers or governors, circulating wicked and untruthful reports about one’s brothers, and seeking to harm God’s servants by such evil reports—all these are also included under the general term blasphemy. … It is incongruous for bitter accusations to come from the lips of those who have been saved through mercy alone and daily need to confess their own sins and ask for divine forgiveness. “The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God” (James 1:20). The holy One is not honoured by our hard speeches against His saints—or even against men of the world. [Ironside]

… filthy communication out of your mouth. 

Dirty talk, filthy or obscene language or speech.

Matthew 15:18-20 (KJV) But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

⁹ Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 

The consideration that we have by profession put away sin and espoused the cause and interest of Christ, that we have renounced all sin and stand engaged to Christ, should fortify us against this sin of lying. 

Those who have put off the old man have put it off with its deeds; and those who have put on the new man must put on all its deeds – not only espouse good principles but act them in a good conversation. The new man is said to be renewed in knowledge, because an ignorant soul cannot be a good soul. Without knowledge the heart cannot be good (Proverbs 19:2). 

Proverbs 19:2 (KJV) Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.

The grace of God works upon the will and affections by renewing the understanding. Light is the first thing in the new creation, as it was in the first: after the image of him who created him. It was the honour of man in innocence that he was made after the image of God; but that image was defaced and lost by sin, and is renewed by sanctifying grace: so that a renewed soul is something like what Adam was in the day he was created. [Matthew Henry]

To be continued…