Our Christian Walk is To Reflect Our Glorious Privilege (Colossians 3:5 to Colossians 4:6).
1). The Man That We Were Has To Die (Colossians 3:5-11)
‘Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness which is idolatry, for the sake of which the wrath of God comes on the sons of disobedience.'
Because we have died and have been raised into things above, the heavenlies, that which we have, as it were, left on earth with its fleshly behaviour, must be put to death. It represents ‘the old man' (Colossians 3:9) who is to be stripped off. For it is the behaviour of this old man that brings the wrath of God on those who indulge in such things, as they follow in the way of disobedience, and by coming to Christ for salvation we have consented to his death. So we will be foolish not to be rid of it. Indeed it will be the greatest of crimes.
Paul is picturing our bodies as containing two lives, one the natural life, the life of the flesh, and the other the spiritual life, the life of the Spirit (Romans 8:5). In Christ we with our spiritual lives are taken into the spiritual realm with Christ. The natural life is left behind ‘on the earth', that is with no access to the spiritual realm. And so he says that by the Spirit we are to ‘put to death', reckon as dead, that natural life with its deeds (Romans 8:13). We are to consign it to the grave and allow the spiritual, resurrected life to hold the reins and live through our bodies (Galatians 5:16-18). We are so used to indulging the flesh that for some this is at first very hard. But as we become more aware of Him, and of our glorious position in Him, it will gradually take place, for He is at work within us to will and to do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).
‘Therefore.' For the very reason that you have died and have been raised with Christ and are to be presented with Him in glory.
‘Put to death your members which are on the earth.' We are seen here metaphorically as having been taken in one aspect of our body (the new man - Philippians 2:10) into the heavenlies, the spiritual realm, and as having left one on earth (the old man - Philippians 2:9). When we were raised with Christ that part of us which indulged our sinful cravings, having died with Christ, was left behind on earth as dead, crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20), having no access to the spiritual realm. And we are now, having ‘died', to put it effectively to death and bury it, to leave it behind. Its desires are to be given no attention, their voice is not to be heard, they are to be ignored, boycotted, treated as having died. Why? Because of what they produce.
‘Fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and especially covetousness which is idolatry.' These failings constitute the make up of our fleshly members, for they are their fruit. They define the condition of our fleshly members. They cover every aspect of sexual misbehaviour (uncleanness) including sexual activity between a couple who are not married (fornication), passion and evil desire of any kind, whether greed, bad temper, wrongful anger, lack of self-control, and ‘especially covetousness' (in the Greek this is distinctively separated off from the others), the desire and longing for what others have, which is described as idolatry, ‘worshipping' such things rather than God because they, rather than He, are taking up their minds. For the Christian should be content with such things as he has (1 Timothy 6:6; 1 Timothy 6:8; Hebrews 13:5 compare Philippians 4:11), looking with joy to God. We are further warned in Ephesians that those who practise these things ‘have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God' (Ephesians 5:5).
‘For the sake of which the wrath of God comes on the sons of disobedience.' In Ephesians Paul is even more emphatic (Ephesians 5:6). People then, as now, had their excuses ready, so Paul says, ‘Let no man deceive you with empty words.' We are very good at empty words when our lustful pleasures are in mind. But such things incur the wrath of God, not because He is against us enjoying life, but because in the end they bring misery and hurt on those affected by our actions. That is what concerns Him.
‘The wrath of God.' The inevitable response of a holy God in judgment to sins which can only result in hurt and the destruction of what is good. ‘The sons of disobedience'. Those who behave as though disobedience were their father (there is good manuscript evidence which suggests that this last phrase was not in the original but was imported from Ephesians 5:6).