How a Christian Treats Sin

Introdution

Can you imagine being a 12 year old boy and being invited to go hunting with the men of your small town? For Jim it was exhilarating. He couldn’t wait to go and be one of the men finding food for their poor town. Part way through the morning, one of the men told Jim to look for game in a hole by a tree. No sooner had Jim bent down to examine the hole than a skunk appeared, wheeled about, and let it loose. Jim had been tricked! There was nothing he could do about it now. He smelled awful – a kind of awful he knew wouldn’t go away for days, maybe weeks. When he got home, Jim’s mom wouldn’t let him near the house. She made him burn his clothes – the only way to rid them of their foul aroma. If you were sprayed by a skunk, would you keep the clothes around, wear them as a memory? Not likely. You would take them off as fast as possible and get rid of them. Putting off spoiled clothes is one of the pictures used in Colossians 3:5-8 to describe a Christian’s relationship to sin. Now that he or she has found life in Jesus Christ, they will put off the ‘clothes’ of sin. Dive in to understand more about what a Christian puts off and what that means.

Observation

Pray

Before opening this passage, pray and ask God to open your eyes to truly understand it and change your life according to it.

Read Focus Verses

Read Colossians 3:5-8, the verses you’ll be studying today.

A Little Context

Colossians 3:1-4 gives the context for understanding why verses 5-8 say what they do. Read Colossians 3:1-8 to understand the passage better.

Audience

To whom are these verses primarily addressed?

Therefore

Verse 5 opens ‘therefore.’ This means that the truths in this passage are dependent on the truths which came before them. What truths were presented in verses 1-4 which help you understand verses 5-8?

Keyword – Mortify

Verses 5 and 8 both command Christians to take certain action concerning sin. Mark both of these commands to highlight them as the key concepts in the passage.

Put off

Mark the two phrases that denote a Christian’s proper relationship to sin in verses 5, 8.

Relationship

According to this passage, what two things define a Christian’s relationship with sin?

Keyword – Sin

Colossians 3:5-8 lists a lot of sins that a Christian is to kill and put off. Mark these for further notice and study.

Iniquity

Mark the sins listed for a Christian to have nothing to do with in today’s passage.

Covetousness

How does God redefine covetousness in verse 5?

Because of

Because of these sins, what happens according to verse 6?

Once

In your own words, what does verse 7 say?

Interpretation

Mortify

Look at the word used in verse 5 to tell Christians to kill their sinful desires and habits.

Put Off

Now look at the word used in verse 8 to tell Christians to put off sinful thoughts, words, and actions.

Immorality

The Ten Commandments forbid adultery, and in Matthew 5:27-28 Jesus explains what God means by that – any sensual thought towards someone who is not your spouse.

Pleasures for a Moment

Perhaps it seems strange that something sinful could seem pleasurable. However, God explains this in Hebrews 11:24-26.

Eternal Pleasures

In contrast, notice where Psalm 16:11 says that we can find pleasures that last forever.

Covetousness and Idolatry

Notice that Ephesians 5:5 calls covetousness idolatry just as today’s passage does.

Idolatry

Why does God call covetousness idolatry?

Clarity

Perhaps this excerpt from Ray King will provide some clarity: “Covetousness is included right next to sexual immorality. It is just as serious, but it is often easier to conceal. The passage points out that a covetous person is an idolater. An idol is anything that we care about more than we care about God. What do we arrange our lives around, even if it means hindering our fellowship with God or delaying our obedience to Him? An idol may not appear to be a bad thing. It can involve caring more about the good gifts God gives us—work, possessions, relationships, reputation, comfort—than we care about God Himself. We must examine ourselves to make sure we have not allowed covetousness or other idolatry to take hold in our lives.”

Click To Visit Website

A Warning

Colossians 3:6 warns us that it is because of these sins that the wrath of God is against those who disobey. Read how Ephesians 5:6 warns us not to listen to those who try to deceive us and say that God is not angry about sin.

Sinners

Notice how verse 7 does not say Christians are people who never sinned, rather they once walked in sin, but now reject it to accept the Savior. See this in Ephesians 2:1-10.

At One Time

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 speaks of this dilemma. Christians once were people who could not inherit the kingdom of God because of their sins. Notice what verse 11 says about how God solved that problem so that His people can inherit heaven though they were once sinners too.

Put it all Together

Putting these passages all together, why can people who were once sinners and could not inherit heaven now be children of God with heaven as their home?

The Things You Say

As you look at Colossians 3:8, what kind of things is a Christian not to say?

Out of the Heart

In Matthew 12:34 Jesus explains where our words come from.

Thoughts

If our words come from what we think and a Christian cannot speak certain ways, can they think those thoughts they are not to speak? Why or why not?

Summary

In your own words, summarize what a Christian is to put off and mortify according to this passage in Colossians.

Application

Are You In?

Have you put away sin and turned to Jesus Christ, becoming a sinner saved by grace? What are you going to do about that?

Covetousness

What do you struggle with coveting? How are you going to deal with that now that you’ve seen that covetousness is idolatry?

Thoughts and Words

What needs to change about your thoughts and words to submit them to the guidelines of this passage?

Purity

Are there thoughts, actions, influences, friends, resources in your life that are making it hard for you to resist sexual temptations like those mentioned in verse 5? What are you going to do about it?

Wrapup

Closing

We hope this has helped you understand a Christian’s relationship to sin and how they will seek to destroy it and put it off.

Feedback

Please take a brief moment to provide us some feedback on this lesson. We're always striving to improve, and with your help, we will.

Click To Visit Website

Support our Ministry

Please join us in our quest to help the world discover the beauty of the Bible. Consider making a generous donation today.

Click To Visit Website