“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” (Colossians 3:1-10 ESV)
When a phrase begins with the word “if” it is usually an indication that what follows is conditional. So it is not assuming here that everyone reading this has, for certain, died with Christ to sin and has been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness (see Romans 6:1-23). So when it says, “For you have died,” it is speaking to those who have genuinely been crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with him…
But this is also speaking to those who have not died with Christ to sin, and who have not been raised with him, which is why we have the “if” clause at the beginning. For this goes on to let us all know what the life of a follower of Jesus Christ should look like, in truth, which is for the benefit both of the real Christian and the one professing faith in Christ but who has not died with him to sin and has, thus, not been raised with him to walk in newness of life in him. For both of them need to hear this.
Now, the genuine believer in Christ Jesus is one who has been crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, not like the old life. So, we who are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ should not still be living like we did before we believed in Jesus. We should not still be holding on to the old life of living in sin and for self, but we should be dying daily to sin and walking in obedience to our Lord and living holy and morally pure and honest lives to the glory and praise of God.
Thus, we who believe in Jesus with genuine faith should be those who have put to death what is earthly in us, but if we have not, this is a command to us that we must put out of our lives all that is of our sinful flesh, such things as sexual immorality, impurity, passion (lust), evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Why? On account of these the wrath of God is coming. And how does that apply to us? Well, read more of the Scriptures and you will see that if we make sin our practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
So, this is not a gentle suggestion or a recommendation. And it is not saying what I hear some preachers say, “Well, we should live holy lives but…” For if sin is what we obey and not obedience to our Lord, then it will lead to death, not to life eternal. And it doesn’t matter what faith we profess with our lips. For Jesus said that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven (see Matthew 7:21-23; cf. Romans 6:1-23; 1 John 2:3-6, etc.).
So we must put them all away, and then the list continues with anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk, and lying to one another. But so many professers of faith in Jesus Christ here in America are being convinced that they can believe in Jesus, be on their way to heaven, and still deliberately and habitually and premeditatedly sin against the Lord and against other humans as a matter of practice. And sexual immorality is at the top of the list of sins now permeating the American church at large.
And sexual immorality is usually a sin that is done in secret, and it is heavily addictive, and those who practice it thus hide it from others, especially from their spouses. And so lying is a big part of this sin. And statistics have it that about 2/3 to 3/4 of “Christian” men (including many pastors) are engaged in regular sexually immoral practices, and that is just the porn statistics, and that doesn’t cover everything, and that doesn’t include the women and children, who are at a lesser amount, but still the stats are astounding!
But if we want to be genuine Christians and followers of Christ who have the hope of salvation from sin and of eternal life with God, then we must put these all away from us. But so many Christians are trapped in sexual sin and in other addictive sins and they are not willing to let them go, because that is still what they want. Their sin is the love of their life, and so it is the one they belong to and long for and desire and run to and want for life, not God, and not their spouses, and not walks of faith and obedience to the Lord.
And this is a very sad reality. And what is even sadder is that so many pastors are condoning this by teaching a cheapened grace and gospel message which does not demand the forsaking of our sins and walks of obedience to our Lord. Thus, so many professers of faith in Jesus Christ are convinced that they can continue in their sinful practices and that God is just going to overlook them. But that is not what the Scriptures teach. They teach that if we live in (practice) sin, we will not inherit eternal life with God.
A love song to our Lord Jesus
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of…
Ain't nothin' better
[Lyrics taken from a secular song called “You’re Still the One” by Robert John Lange and Shania Twain]
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