The Book of Colossians Pt. 33 Purge Our Minds From Evil Things.

Colossians 3:1-7  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2)  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3)  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4)  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. 5)  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: 6)  For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: 7)  In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. 

In our previous posts, we covered this first section of Colossians 3. We learned that we must seek those things of God where Christ is seated in heaven. Jesus said we must seek first the kingdom of God and this is what Paul is teaching us. 

Our affection or our heart must be focused upon heavenly things because, we cannot serve God and mammon (things of the world).

We learned that Christ's death on the cross counts for our death as the wages of our sins. He safely hid our lives away in Himself. Christ has promised to come back and take all believers home to live in heaven forever. 

Because these things are true we are commanded to mortify our flesh and deny our old man of any opportunity to grow strong. This is why we must seek heavenly treasures rather than earthly pleasures. 

Put off certain depraved behaviors. 

Colossians 3:8,9  But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 9)  Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 

Now, the apostle Paul is going to give us clear direction. He will command us to "put off" certain things, which is to be followed by "putting on" certain things. 

He previously addressed sexual sins, being covetous and idolatry. Now, Paul introduces some additional moral standards from God. 

He begins with a negative aspect by telling us we have an obligation to God to to "put off" certain behaviors.  This term means we are to cast off or throw away certain sinful behaviors. We are to rid ourselves of them.

Paul says to put off all these and this indicates he is going to list several sins we need to address if they are part of our life pattern. 

Put off anger.

Matthew 5:22  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Jesus made it clear in His teaching that if you are angry with your brother for no cause, or have no good reason, then you stand in danger of judgment from God.

Anger may be an appropriate response to a sinful situation.

John 2:13-16  And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14)  And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 15)  And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; 16)  And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. 

Jesus was angry with a righteous cause. He saw that the religious leaders were making money selling animals for sinners to offer in sacrifice to God. Money changers were conducting financial transactions in the house of God.

Jesus made a "scourge" or small whip and drove all of them out of the temple of God. He caused all the ox and sheep and doves to be taken out of the temple. He overturned the moneychangers tables. 

Christ rebuked them for making His Father's house a den of thieves instead of a house of prayer. (See Nehemiah 13:14-22). 

Thus we must put off "anger" which is a violent emotion steeped in indignation. 

Put off wrath because revenge belongs to God.

Romans 12:19  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Put off "wrath", which is anger that boils up with hateful heat and misguided passion. The Bible tells us that we must remember that vengeance belongs to Jehovah, not to us. 

Believers must not "give place" to wrath. That is, we must not allow any room for wrath in our thoughts, words or actions. 

We are not to seek revenge on someone who has done us great wrong. God will judge them and they will not escape His wrath. 

Put off malice.

Titus 3:3  For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

Put off "malice" which is worse than anger or wrath. The word malice means being so angry or filled with wrath against someone that you intentionally seek to harm them or do evil to them. Malice means getting revenge even if you break the law to gain it. 

Anger and wrath are bad, but malice is worse, because it is more rooted and deliberate. It is anger heightened and settled into plotting to do evil against another person. 

The text from Titus makes it clear that malice is connected with our old man and our old way of life, before we were regenerated by God's Spirit. 

Put off blasphemy.

Mark 3:22,23  And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. 23)  And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? 

Mark 3:29,30  But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: 30)  Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit. 

Jesus healed a man and the religious leaders claimed that He cast them out by the power of the Devil. Jesus addressed their false claim and the sin of blasphemy.

In this case, the scribes blasphemed the Holy Spirit of God by saying that Christ cast out devils by the power of  Satan. Whoever blasphemes the work of the Spirit of God will not be forgiven. This is a grievous sin.

Therefore, all those who wrongly said that Christ did miracles and mighty works by Satan's power, blasphemed the very nature and trustworthiness of the Godhead.   

Put off "blasphemy" which is vile speech against God. Blasphemy is vile attacks upon the character of God. It is malicious speech directed toward God and God will not tolerate it. 

Put off filthy communication from our mouths. 

Matthew 15:18-20  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19)  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20)  These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. 

Jesus taught us that lies and blasphemies erupt from a corrupt and rotten heart. What we say with our mouths comes from our hearts. 

We must guard our heart first, and then guard our tongue, so that we will have hearts full of God's word, which will dramatically change what we say and think and do. 

The word translated "filthy communication" is only used once in the New Testament. It means saying things that are obscene, foul and base. It is vile, base speech coming from a depraved mind. It is lewd speech from a polluted heart. 

Put off lying. 

Colossians 3:9  Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 

The last "put off" in this section from the apostle Paul concerns the sin of lying. Lying is a sin of Satan, for Jesus taught that he is the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). 

We have talked before about how widespread lying is on our culture. The percentage of people, who lie on their resumés, or students who lie by plagiarizing their work, is astounding. 

Acts 5:1-5  But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, 2)  And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. 3)  But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4)  Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 5)  And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. 

Even the early church had to deal with the sin of lying. A husband and wife sold a piece of property and conspired to lie to the apostles about the money that they received. Ananias lied to Peter who saw through his scheme. The Spirit of God struck down both Ananias and Saphira for lying.

The ninth commandment from God commands us not to bear false witness, that is not to lie (Exodus 20:16). 

Remember, this is the negative aspect of considering the "put offs." We must remember that these are brought before us because when we follow through by putting those sins off, it is good for us. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

It is noteworthy that the sins we are exhorted to "put off" are sins that originate in our mind, our heart. 

I leave us with these wonderful words from the Psalmist to be a guide for what goes into our minds and hearts. 

Psalm 19:14  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. 

May the Psalmist's inspired words become true of us. May our words and heart's meditation be good, pure and acceptable in His sight. 

Then, the "put offs" will become a reality as our minds are transformed and renewed by His eternal word. 

Bob