We begin our study of Colossians 3:7-10 with a quick review of verses 5-6. We have victory and new life in Christ, but there is still a struggle in battling sin and temptations to slip back into the old way of life apart from Jesus. Paul calls upon us to seek to put to death sexual immorality and desires and feelings that could lead us to sinful behaviors. We are also to watch out for covetousness, greediness that could make what we want into a sort of idol that is more important than our Lord....
We begin our study of Colossians 3:7-10 with a quick review of verses 5-6. We have victory and new life in Christ, but there is still a struggle in battling sin and temptations to slip back into the old way of life apart from Jesus. Paul calls upon us to seek to put to death sexual immorality and desires and feelings that could lead us to sinful behaviors. We are also to watch out for covetousness, greediness that could make what we want into a sort of idol that is more important than our Lord. Moving away from Christ could lead us back under the wrath of God for our sins. We all started our life apart from God, as Ephesians 2:1-3 and Colossians 3:7 remind us, before our new life we have in Jesus.
In verse 8, Paul also gives us another sinful pattern into which we could slip in our lives with others. Anger can lead to rage, where we act with ill-will and malice, with slanderous (literally, blasphemous words of ill-will) or obscene (abusive, ugly, shameful) talk coming out of our mouths, which can be very hurtful to others. (See what James says in James 1:19-21 and in a long discussion of the tongue as a kind of fire, in James 3:1-12.) Likewise, in verse 9, telling lies is dangerous. We would be acting as if the devil was our father, instead of our Heavenly Father. See John 8:42-44.
As we came to faith in Christ and were baptized, we stripped off our old self (literally the old man,) with its evil actions, and dressed ourselves with new clothes, a new way of life. Actually, God did this changing for us, as we read in Old Testament passages like Isaiah 61:10 and Zechariah 3:1-5. Many other Scriptures speak of this contrast between our old life of sin (Ephesians 4:17-18,22, for example) and, as verse 10 says, “the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator.“ Note that it is God’s doing, as we are being “renewed” by Him; and yet we grow in knowledge ourselves of God’s will for us. (See Scriptures like 1 Corinthians 8:2-3, 1 Corinthians 13:12, and Galatians 4:9, where as we are known by God, we know more ourselves, through Him and His Word.)
The idea of “renewal” is a strong concept, too, in our new life in Christ. God as Creator made the first people in His “image," sinless and in fellowship with God; but all that was lost in the fall into sin. We all start off life now in sin, with a sinful nature; in Christ, though, we have a new life and are counted as forgiven and sinless and acceptable to God. Our Lord would now like to renew us to be more like Him, with an image more like what Adam and Eve had in the Garden before the fall. See Scriptures like Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 4:16 and 5:17-21, Ephesians 2:10 and 4:24, and Titus 3: 3-8.
That last passage, Titus 3:5, speaks of our baptism, “the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” If you have a catechism, look at the words of Martin Luther about Baptism, in Part 4 of his discussion about Baptism. He encourages us to remember our baptism daily, by sorrow and repentance for our sins of the day and “drowning” the old sinful life, and asking the Lord to help us start a new, fresh life of faith and action in Christ each day. God actually does the renewing, but He provides us with gifts and blessings by which that can happen, as we will hear more about next week. We are never alone in this battle against sin and the old sinful nature. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are always with us, forgiving us when we stumble and enabling us to continue the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12).
