We are made new creations when made children of God. This daily devotional looks at how we are given a clean heart when Christ is all in us.
Nuggets
- As salvation does not give us the license to sin, we need to stay away from sin, or we will feel God’s wrath.
- Paul accused the Colossians of having made a confession of faith without changing their lifestyle.
- The bottom line in all of this is God is looking for a change in us.
Devotions in the Joy in the Gospel series
Paul called the Colossians on the carpet for their sins. He not only told them what they were doing wrong, but he also showed them how to do it right.
We would do well to follow Paul’s advise. Let’s take a look.
Let's Put It into Context
Here is a running list of what we’ve discussed previously.
Keep Away from Sin
“Therefore, put to death what belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, God’s wrath is coming upon the disobedient, and you once walked in these things when you were living in them” (Col. 3: 5-7 CSB)
As salvation does not give us the license to sin, we need to stay away from sin, or we will feel God’s wrath.
Paul is talking about killing sin, again. The churchy word is mortify. Mortify means to place a death penalty on our sins.
Glossary
That is really descriptive for me. We need to string it up, send it to the electric chair, stab it in the heart, be a sniper and shoot it a mile away — whatever we need to do to get sin out of our lives!!!!!
And it isn’t just any sin. It is the big five.
Maclaren was right. We are really just slaying ourselves — err, the Adam chromosome within us.
Salvation doesn’t give us license to continue sinning. We need to cut it all out.
Paul had just told us why. “So if you have been raised with Christ …” (Col. 3: 1 CSB).
A couple of the versions translate it as since you have been raised to life with Christ (NIV, NLT). I get the cause and effect there.
Most of the other versions say prove it. That is so God.
God doesn’t just raise us from the dead — forgive us of our sins — and let that be the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is gaining His character — becoming more like Him.
Maclaren put it this way. He wrote, “Character is the outcome and test of doctrine.”
Resource
That is so true. God is building our character as we navigate the Sanctification Road, but it is also proving that we are on the Road. We are following His Will.
We can’t put our belief in God down on our nightstand when we get up in the morning and may or may not look at it right before we go to sleep. We can’t go on sinning through the day while our beliefs are cozy at home.
They have to be a part of our lives. Maclaren said it is our spiritual duty to live out our beliefs.
No, mortifying sin is not going to be easy. Maclaren described it beautifully. He wrote, “The way to heaven is not by ‘the primrose path.’ That leads to ‘the everlasting bonfire.’ Men obtain forgiveness and eternal life as a gift by faith; but they achieve holiness, which is the permeating of their characters with that eternal life, by patient believing effort.
Resource
Here, Paul gave us the broad spectrum of what the sins that we struggle with are.
God has many laws about our sex life. He does get very specific about who we can and can’t love.
Are you surprised considering God is the God of love?
Don’t be. When we start looking at the worldview definition of who we can and can’t love, we tend to take our eyes off God and put them on the other person.
God doesn’t want that. He wants to be the object of our focus.
The impurity is all about being clean. Cleanness has to do with us remaining holy.
- Holy means to be set apart, perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues.
- Pure means not being sinful or having the stain of sin.
- Purity means possessing God’s moral character, having eliminated the stain of sin.
Lust is every desire that excludes God. It is an intense wanting of things not of God. It is, again, focusing on this world and all it has to offer.
The definition we’ve been using for covetousness is an inordinate greed for wealth and possessions. Barlow called it an “… insatiable lust for material possessions.”
Resource
Maclaren said that we need to include sensuality in the mix. He said it is “… promoted vice, lust superannuated.”
The greed can easily tip the sin into idolatry. An idol is an object of worship in any form that is below God that takes from God the worship that is His due and is needy and dependent on its worshipers.
We like to focus on God being the God of love. By doing that we can forget that He is the God of wrath.
God is both. I believe the wrath stems from being the God of love.
- God’s love is His all-encompassing favor that He has for us that is not dependent on our actions.
- God’s jealousy means He does not tolerate His creation being unfaithful by worshiping anything other than Him.
- God’s wrath is the anger He expresses when we break His laws and commandments.
Because God loves us, He is jealous when He sees us putting other things before Him. He responds through His wrath.
God has to respond to those who break His laws and commandments. If He didn’t, the laws and commandments would be worthless. Then He wouldn’t be holy — perfect and pure.
Barlow said God’s wrath isn’t uncontrollable nor is it illogical. It isn’t something we can just explain away. It is fair and impartial.
Don’t miss the significance of that fact that God’s wrath is coming. It is a fact.
It may be today or tomorrow. It may be on the final judgment day.
But it is coming.
Walking is the term used to describe how we live our lives. It is progressing on our journey through this life.
But it means more than that, too. We have to be active in doing God’s work.
- We have to be looking for opportunities to witness.
- We have to be looking for opportunities to serve.
If we don’t, will be living as we did before conversion — in a sinful lifestyle. Sin may be an inward choice, but it has an outward development.
Paul was going for repentance and thankfulness here.
- Repentance is acknowledging our separation from God and expressing sorrow for breaking God’s laws and commandments by making the commitment to changing ourselves through obedience so that we no longer do the wrong things.
- Thankfulness is a response of gratitude to an act of God.
When we ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, we are committing to give up our sinful ways. Not doing so is inconsistent with the life to which God has called us.
Specific Sins to Avoid
“But now, put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator” (Col. 3: 8-10 CSB)
Paul accused the Colossians of having made a confession of faith without changing their lifestyle.
Faith is a gift from God that enhances the conviction that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives and distinguishes us from others. We show this faith through repentance. An essential element of repentance is turning from our old ways and acting in a new way.
Where Paul gave a broad overview before, here he gets more specific. This isn’t an exhaustive list.
There is a distinct difference between the lists, as Barlow pointed out. In the last section, the list was all about personal sins. Here, it is sins that affect others. These are sins of the heart, temper, and tongue.
Resource
Maclaren made a great observation on the anger. Sometimes, we think if we don’t show the anger, it is enough.
Is it really? No. Disciples are called to change our dispositions. We are not called to be a vengeful, angry disciple. We are called to be a loving disciple.
Worse yet is when we allow the anger to turn into a grudge of malice or hatred.
Maclaren told us why lying is considered a sin. He wrote, “Lying has its proper place here because it comes from a deficiency of love or a predominance of selfishness.”
Resource
The Freeing of Children of God
“In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all” (Col. 3: 11 CSB)
The bottom line in all of this is God is looking for a change in us.
- We have to start loving God.
- We have to follow all of His laws and commandments, not try to rewrite them.
- That means that we have to stop doing things that He disapproves of — whether we agree with Him or not.
How is this done. Regeneration. God creates a new us. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (II Cor. 5: 17 ESV).
It is more than just the New Living Translation says. Yes, it is a new life for us.
But more, it is a new us.
I know that is hard to see. God doesn’t flip a switch and [in another language or dialect], “We look different, walk different, talk different.”
It is still us, but a new us. Davies described the new us this way. He wrote, “But thrown into the crucible and mould of the Cross, he comes out a new man. New thoughts crowd the theatre of his mind, new emotions flower in the garden of his soul, new prospects enliven his future, and impelled by new convictions he builds up a new character. When ignorant become learned and subjects kings, there is less change than when lions become lambs, and God’s enemies His friends.”
Glossary
Resource
All the distinctions regarding who mankind is are gone only when we become children of God. Spurgeon noted that these removed distinctions are national, ceremonial, and social differences.
Glossary
Resource
As much as the worldview agenda promotes likeness, Davies said we are only alike through regeneration.
Making the Connections
Maclaren brought up a great point. We like to think that man is innately good. He isn’t. Man is innately sinful.
Resource
Culture doesn’t help any. Culture is made up of beliefs and customs of society, including values, religion, language, marriage, food, clothing, and music, to name a few.
In a lot of cases, culture promotes the worldview, not the Godview. It is leading us away from the Christ of the cross.
Glossary
How Do We Apply This?
- Be dead to the world. We have to be in it but not of it.
- Make Christ our all.
- Keep with Him always.
- Put our trust in Him.
- Live in all for Him.
Resources
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Father God. You make us new creations when You make us Your children. We are still us, but You put a clean heart within us. You do that when Christ is all in us. Help us to steer clear of the sins Paul listed. May we always remain focused on You. Amen.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
What do you think?
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