In the first 5 verses of Colossians 3 we have learned these 5 principles:
1. We have been raised with Christ and must now begin to seek what is above. (Col. 3:1)
2. That means we must stop living for earthly pleasures. (Col. 3: 2)
3. All believers are now considered dead to themselves. (Col. 3: 3)
4. Christ now has the right to live His life through us. (Col. 3: 4)
5. All that is "earthly" in us must be put to death. (Col. 3: 5a)
My guess is that you believe all of these statements to be true. God has said it, so it must be true, right? But we must take it beyond what we know to be true in theory, to the place where it is true in our response to God. Our actions must align with the truth. That is why He gave us the second part of Colossians 3: 5. God gets very specific now with us. We are to put to death what is earthly in us. Then He gives us a specific list by which we are to examine our own lives. Theory should become highly personal in this part of the verse as you read through this short list of sins.
"Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and covetousness, which is idolatry."
Ouch!!!
I have to say, though, at first blush, it is so easy to read each one slowly and tell yourself that "That is not me." But if you wait just a moment, the Holy Spirit will likely begin to convict you in one of these areas, if not all of them. That is where my "ouch" came from.
You see, you don't have to be sleeping around to be sexually immoral. A inappropriate sexual thought is all it take to make you guilty of the sin. And if you have had one of those kinds of thoughts, you are now guilty of impurity as well.
Then if you consider what things you are passionate about, you might discover with the Spirit's help that you are imbalanced in your passion, so it has become sin in your life. If you have let that passion develop a deep root in you, then you are likely have to crossed a line without even knowing it into desire that is no longer pure, but evil.
Now, maybe you still can't relate, and the Spirit is convicting you of nothing so far. Praise God for that! You may be the rare one that is not guilty of the first four. But don't break your arm patting yourself on the back just yet, for the fifth sin will convict us all.
We don't often think of coveting something as being idolatry. We tend to think it is only wanting what someone else has, stemming from our own jealousy. But biblically speaking, covetousness is far more than desiring someone else's stuff. Covetousness has a much deeper root than that. It is the act of wanting something instead of what you have. In this case of sin, it is wanting something more than you want God. That is why is is referred to as idolatry. It is the sin of having something that is more important to you than God. And if you think about it, all of the 5 sins listed could be considered idolatry.
In the course of any ordinary day there are idols in my life that choose above God. In this, I break the first commandment of God which states I should have no other gods other than God. I can think of several idols that are currently active in my life. Maybe you struggle with the same thing.
No matter which of these 5 sins you commit, (and of course this is not the complete list!), Paul is telling you in Colossians 3: 5 that they are earthly, and they are to have no part of you. They are to be put to death. They are to be mortified. Your life and mine is hidden in the holiness of Christ, so we must put to death anything that will tarnish His holiness. It is a command: "Put to death what is earthly in you."
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