5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. ~~~~~~~~~~If we have indeed been raised with Christ, our mental framework has been made over, the way that it was supposed to be at the beginning. Our desires, thinking and ambitions now focus on and reflect Christ.

Like anyone pursuing a specific goal, we need to make choices about what we fill our lives with.

5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ~~~~~~~~~~: 2ndpluralaoristactiveimperative

~ Paul would not have issued this command unless there were issues among the Colossian believers.

~ the aorist refers to a punctilliar action.

Kill it! as opposed to a more gradual effort.

Is our attitude toward the old life too kind?It wants to live again!It is really all that bad?

A little bit of my way?

5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.~~~~~~~~~~whatever ~ the following list contains examples . . .

sexual immorality ~ general sexual misconduct

impurity ~ the impurity of lustful, luxurious, profligate living

lust ~ fixation/passion for a desired object (sensuality)

evil desires ~ lust that is not necessarily sensual in nature

greed ~ the desire for more

What do we focus on?

Note the corporate effort.

5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.~~~~~~~~~~~These are the very things that Christ died to redeem you from.

These are the very addictive activities that seek to destroy every fiber of your life!

5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ~~~~~~~~~~These are things that you used to do, right?

They are not a part of following Christ, the life that you live now.

Repentance is in the contract . . .

5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: ~~~~~~~~~~Another list of examples

rid yourselves ~ laying aside an encumbrancemiddle voice: you do it and benefit from it. Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.~~~~~~~~~~anger ~ with the idea of revengerage ~ anger that you mull over.malice ~ a desire to see others harmed by yourself or othersslander ~ speech intended to harm othersfilthy language ~ ungoverned speechHow do these relational evidences of the old life (flesh/sinful nature) hinder our relationship with Christ?

5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.~~~~~~~~~~anger ~ with the idea of revengerage ~ anger that you mull over.malice ~ a desire to see others harmed by yourself or othersslander ~ speech intended to harm othersfilthy language ~ ungoverned speechHow do these relational evidences of the old life (flesh/sinful nature) hinder our relationship with Christ?

5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.~~~~~~~~~~How do these relational evidences of the old life (flesh/sinful nature) hinder our relationship with Christ?

They are relational killers and following Christ is a multi- individual thing.

They seek to elevate self through devaluing others. (Phil 2)

Our words should be chosen to build up, not to cause others to lose focus on Christ.

5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.~~~~~~~~~~What might Christians be tempted to be false about?

(The present tense means that this is happening among them.)

You have stripped off the old self, havent you?

You have put on the new self, havent you?

The objective of our lives is to be leaving the old and going to the new, that is Christ.

5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.~~~~~~~~~~Everyone needs to be remade in the image of Christ. Do not think for a moment that your social class of spiritual heritage exempts you as all from this.

What do you need do kill in your own life? What do you need to rid yourself of?

The vestiges of the old life (sin nature or flesh)

. . . they are vestiges, arent they

The vestiges of the old life (sin nature or flesh) need to be seen as the evil destroyers that they are.

These vestiges must be killed again and again without mercy, stripped off and replaced with the image of Christ in us.

Whatever it takes . . .

There are no exceptions to this among us.

Galatians 5:16-25 ~ who needs rules when your are living in relationship with Jesus?