Col

Col. 3:5-11

7/1/2007

“Put to Death What is Earthly in You”

“Put to death what is earthly in you…!” There is something very new about this expression from the redemptive historical point of view. And its newness indicates that a new age has arrived upon us.

Think about what must be put to death: “sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (v. 5) as well as “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth” (v. 8). These are lists of sins. They are not exhaustive lists of all the sins that we must put to death or put off. “Put to death” is what we have to do with all our sins, not just with these.

Think about this command in the context of the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, God’s people were called not to violate God’s law (the Ten Commandments), or called to turn away from their sins (Prov. 3:7, etc.), or cast away their idols (Ezek. 20:7) and all their transgressions (Ezek. 18:31). But here in our passage we can say that we have a more “aggressive” expression for dealing with our sins: “put to death” (cf. Rom. 8:13). Why the change?

The command begins with the conjunction, “therefore”. This command, then, flows out of the previous section. There Paul described our past (“raised with Christ), our present (“hidden with Christ in God”) and our future hope (“we shall appear with Him in glory”). The command to put to death what is earthly in us, therefore, has to be grounded in what God has done in our past, what God is doing in our present and what God will do in our future.

This command has as its foundation, first of all, in what God has done in the past, in our being raised with Christ. This means ultimately that the foundation of this command lies in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. “For God has done what the Law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh…” (Rom. 8:3). As Jesus died to pay the penalty of our sin, sin has been dealt the deathblow. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus has put to death the punishment of our sins. He has also put to death the power and dominion of sin over us: sin has nothing on us that we should obey its demands! Sin is no longer our master that we should obey it. We have been raised with Christ: our old self under the dominion of sin has been put off and we have put on the new self in Jesus Christ (vv. 9, 10). But sin is still present in us. It still raises its ugly head and tries to devour us. It can never drag back into hell those who are in Christ Jesus. But it will continue to try until Christ shall return to set us free even from the presence of sin altogether. Until then, we are to mortify our sins and put them to death. Just to avoid our sins, just to run away from them, is no longer enough. Just to keep our sins at bay is no longer enough. We are to put them to death because we have been raised with Christ, because our old self has been put away with, because we have put on the new self from heaven in Christ, which is free from the dominion of sin. It is no longer our invincible enemy. Sin is not invincible. God is! His grace is, His grace in Jesus Christ!

Not only that, our life is now hidden with Christ in God. We are united with Christ: He and we are inseparable (Rom. 8:35); He is our life (3:4). “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20); “he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Cor. 5:15).

And this bond we have with Christ is in God--in His sovereign, unalterable plan, in the protection of His almighty power, in the security of His abounding love, in the richness of His blessings.

This means that Christ is present with us wherever we are and whatever we do and whatever we feel and think in our heart and mind. He has bound Himself with us through the new covenant in His blood. He came into the world for that very purpose: to be our Immanuel (God with us). He is now present with us always through His Spirit. Great indeed are the blessings of His presence in our life! We are weak but He is strong. We are but creatures but He is the almighty Creator, who made all things out of nothing. We are but empty buckets but He is the ocean fullness, who fills us up according to the bountiful riches of His grace. We are but starving beggars but He is the Bread from heaven, who satisfies our hunger and renews our strength day by day. We are but thirsty vagabonds in the desert but He is the Oasis, who satisfies our thirst and refreshes our weary soul. We are wicked sinners who deserve hell but He is our gracious Savior who gave His life for our redemption. And He intercedes for us without ceasing. He, who began the good work in us, continues to work in us to bring it to completion at the day of His glorious revelation!

But we must not forget the other side. He is full of compassion and forgiveness but it is not because our sin does not matter to Him. Our sin grieves Him. Our sin grieves Him greatly and deeply. Our sin grieves Him more than the sins of unbelievers. Michael Card once sang, “Only a friend can betray a friend…” (“Why?”). Christ has made us His dearest friends. We can grieve Him greatly because He has brought us so close to His heart. Yet He does not abandon us because of our sin. He does not turn His face away from us. He does not give up on us. He knew, when He died, the depth of our sinfulness, the dark potential that is deeply rooted in our hearts to sin if the opportunity presented itself. He does not let us go but continually points us back to His cross, which exposes the gravity of our sins, which required the Son of God to lay down His life, but also displays the magnitude of God’s grace for wretched sinners like us. He does not give up on us despite our sins. “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:19, 20). Through the means of grace--the Word, the Sacraments and prayer--He calls us to Himself again and again. If we come, He will not reject us but embrace us with His everlasting arms again and again, no matter how great and many our sins may be.

We are to put to death what is earthly in us not only because of what God has done in our past and is doing in our present but also what God will do in our future: “When Christ, who is our life, appears, we shall also appear with Him in glory” (3:4)! When the day of revelation comes, our glory will no longer be hidden! No longer shall we be earthen vessels, whose glory of possessing the heavenly treasure is hidden by the frailty of our body and the lowliness of our status in this world and the presence of our sin in our life. We shall be transformed in a twinkling of an eye and we shall become both externally and internally what God saw in His eternal plan even before the foundation of the world, what prompted God to create us in the first place! What existed merely as a potential and possibility will be fully realized. What was guaranteed will finally arrive in full measure. What was true of our legal status--justified!--will be true of our character--fully sanctified and glorified. Our perishable body will put on the imperishable body. Our mortal life will put on the immortal life. The sting of death has already been taken away; death was swallowed up in victory in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But on that day, death will be forever removed from us. Even now we are set free from the punishment and power of sin. But on that day we shall be free even from the presence of sin. No more sins of deed, no more sins of word, no more sins even of thought. No more sins of commission, no more sins of omission. There will be no more doubt to plague us, no more half-hearted service to God and to others. We will love and serve the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. Our faith shall be sight. Our sighing prayer will turn into joyful praise. Our mourning will change into dancing! We will be holy not just in our legal standing but also in our character through and through!

Such is our past, our present and our future; therefore, we are to put to death what is earthly in us!

With that in mind, notice the extent of Paul’s command: “put to death all your sins…!” No. “Put to death what is earthly in you…!” Think about all the things that the Israelites in the Old Testament had to keep away from: the unclean things and foods, the pagan idols and their worship, the sins that the Law forbade. But the distinction between the clean and unclean, the sacred and profane, the righteous and sinful, and even between the blessings and curses, was drawn within this world. But now, the distinction is made between what is earthly and what is heavenly, what is on earth and what is above (3:2). What is earthly is to be put to death and what is above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God, is to be sought after. As you can see, the distinction has been shifted from within this world to between what is on earth and what is above in heaven! And what is earthly must be put to death!

This doesn’t mean that everything in this world is evil. “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” (1 Tim. 4:4). But in this command we are given a clear insight into what makes something truly good and what makes something truly evil. Whatever is of the earthly-mindedness, which absolutizes this world, is evil. To be earthly-minded is to determine the meaning and purpose of our life, to measure our happiness and misery, or success and failure, in terms of this world and what it offers. To be earthly-minded is to live without any regard for the age to come, to make the earthly treasures a priority over the heavenly treasures. But in Jesus Christ the kingdom of God, the life and power of the kingdom of heaven, came in its surpassing glory. In the splendor of its glory, whatever glory this world can offer fades into darkness. You can understand this, can’t you? Imagine using the most advanced and top-of-the-line computer with cable modem and being suddenly stuck with an old computer with a dial-up modem. What was exciting and new only 10 years ago (the dial-up modem) is now a source of unbearable frustration and anger. Why? Because of the surpassing convenience of the new technology! Multiply that by infinity and you will have the difference between what is heavenly and what is earthly, which is corrupted with sin! In the surpassing glory and goodness of the heavenly things, the earthly has become unbearably bad.

So, do you hear what Paul is saying? Put to death what is earthly in you! He is saying that what is earthly must be put to death: it deserves to be put to death and it can be put to death. And it is implied that what is earthly in us will be put to death.

“Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry…, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk.” These are all symptoms of making an idol of what is earthly--when we say we have to have it no matter what, when we absolutize these temporary, perishing things. Our delight in possessing them may last for a short while but we are left with a greater emptiness. Take, for example, sexual immorality. As you heard many times, sex is a gift from God, but only when it is enjoyed within the proper confines of marriage, enjoyed as a shadow of the joy we experience in intimate fellowship with God. If sexual pleasure is sought after apart from being in proper relationship with God, who alone can satisfy our deepest longings, how short-lived and fleeting, how empty its pleasure is! And we manifest anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk because of the frustration of having our way in the world. When we do not have a proper relationship with God, this is what happens because God alone can give us the peace and the joy and the love we need to deal with one another in this world.

“Put to death what is earthly in you…!” This is not just a recommendation God makes. It is God’s command. A command is something that needs to be obeyed--right away, all the way and the happy way. Once a king commanded one of his generals to take over a fortress. Knowing how well fortified it was, the general responded, “Your highness, I will do my best.” The king responded, “General, I don’t think you heard me. Go and take over the fortress.” A bit puzzled, the general replied, “Your majesty, I will do all I can to take over the fortress.” The king spoke again, this time with a bit of frustration, “General, you still did not hear me right: Go and take over the fortress!” Finally the general understood and replied, “Your majesty, I will!”

As this simple illustration demonstrates, many of us do not understand what a command is and what response it requires. Is it because we live in a society where egalitarian ideals rule the day? What is the only proper response to God’s command? “I will try” or even “I will do my best”? Is that all God asks of us when He says, “Put to death what is earthly in you…”? But what if God’s command calls us to do what is impossible? We all know--do we not?--that we can never fully and perfectly obey God’s command on this side of the grave, including even the simplest and smallest of His commands. If so, our best is all that God could ask of us, isn’t it?

True enough. But the question we must ask ourselves with utmost earnestness is this: what is our best? Before we dismiss this question as a source of endless stress and unbearable burden, let me provide you with some tangible pictures from the illustration I gave: to do one’s best is to attack the fortress until taking it or to die doing it! It is not doing our best if we try for some time and retreat: we cannot come back alive and say we did our best when we did not conquer the fortress. This very idea is expressed in Heb. 12:4: “In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” We are told to resist sin to the point of shedding blood, to the point of dying! We are to put to death what is earthly in us. We are to continue in this spiritual battle until we succeed, or die trying! But you say what is the point if we die trying? Well, that is precisely the point that brings out the glory of the gospel.

Think about what the difference is between Christians and non-Christians in this regard because both Christians and non-Christians are accountable to them. Yes, even non-Christians are accountable to God for this command. Paul says that the wrath of God is coming on account of the sins listed in v. 5 (as well as in vv. 8, 9). Certainly the wrath of God is not against Christians, for whom there is no condemnation! And why the wrath of God against non-Christians if they are not accountable for these commands? We know that even non-Christians know deep inside that the wrath of God is coming against them through natural revelation: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them” (Rom. 1:18, 19). To seek the things of the world is not right even for non-Christians because they too were made in the image of God. They too were created to find the true meaning and fulfillment of their lives in fellowship with God, not in the perishable things of the world! To ground one’s happiness in the things other than God is idolatry, an act of bowing down to something less than what they are in God’s created order.

If both Christians and non-Christians are accountable for the law of God, what is the difference? Because of the corruption of their heart, non-Christians are not able to obey the law of God. While they may keep themselves away from the sins externally, they cannot do so internally. Their nature is too drenched in sin to shake off their sinful, carnal desires from their hearts! In fact, the law of God only arouses their sinful curiosity and rebellious will and carnal desires all the more (Rom. 7:5). But for Christians, it comes to us as that which is not only proper to do but also possible! Think about how you were raised with Christ, how your life is hidden with Christ in God, how you shall appear with Christ in glory! What God has done in the past cannot be changed, what God is doing in the present cannot be thwarted and what God will do in the future cannot fail. Christ, who was willing to give His life for our forgiveness, will not withhold anything to aid us in our fight against sin, will He? He has given us the means of grace and His Spirit to make them efficacious. He has equipped with the full armor of God. Even now, as you are listening to the Word of God, Christ is working to equip you and strengthen you for your battle. He is standing at the door, even now, knocking. He is willing to come in and dine with you and you with Him. It is supremely true in our battle against sin: “I can do all things through Him, who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13)! He is willing to do all this because He desires that you should experience the fullness of your new life in Him!

And Christ shall not fail to bring in the glorious future when you shall appear with Him in glory, when all your pain and sorrows are wiped away, when all your weaknesses and faults will be done away with, when you in your glorified body and spirit will love the Lord, finally, with all your heart, soul, mind and strength! Because that future is certain to come, because it will not fail to come, therefore, put to death what is earthly in you with the power and the strength of Christ and His kingdom! When we die trying, we are not defeated! Our battle has been already won by our Savior. If we die trying, even if we die trying, we will be honored and exalted as heroes of faith in the kingdom of God--not as lifeless corpses in our wooden coffins, not just with a flag and gun shots at the Arlington National Cemetery, but as resurrected and glorified saints in heaven, with the crown of glory, which will never perish or lose its glow!