Putting Sin to Death (3:5-9a)

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Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is on account of these things that the wrath of God will come, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, (3:5-9a)

We might be surprised to read that living the risen life involves putting sin to death. Didn’t Paul just say that that had already been done? At the moment of salvation, “our old self was crucified with [Christ], that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin” (Rom. 6:6). That positional reality, however, must be worked out in the believer’s practical living. There can be no holiness or maturity in a life where sin runs unchecked.

We have died to sin’s penalty, but sin’s power still can be strong and our flesh is weak. That is why we must continually put sin to death by yielding to the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:13). Sin is like a deposed monarch who no longer reigns, nor has the ability to condemn, but works hard to debilitate and devastate all his former subjects. Sin is still potent, and success against it demands the Spirit’s power. The principle of Zechariah 4:6 applies in victory over Satan. It is “not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit.” And the Spirit’s weapon is the Word (Eph. 6:17). As the believer is strong in the Word, he “overcome[s] the evil one” (1 John 2:14). Being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18) is the same as allowing the Word to dwell richly in you (Col. 3:16). So it is true that the believer has died in the sense of paying sin’s penalty by being united with Christ in His death. But it is equally true that sin still attacks his unredeemed humanness (cf. Rom. 8:23) and must, as a deadly enemy, be killed by the power of the Spirit through the Word. So while we wait for “the redemption of [the] body” (Rom. 8:23), the redeemed spirit, empowered by the Holy Spirit, must kill the sin attacking the flesh.

Putting sin to death, then, is not optional in the Christian life. The Puritan Richard Baxter wrote, “Use sin as it will use you; spare it not, for it will not spare you; it is your murderer, and the murderer of the world: use it, therefore, as a murderer should be used. Kill it before it kills you; and though it bring you to the grave, as it did your Head, it shall not be able to keep you there” (cited in I. D. E. Thomas, A Puritan Golden Treasury [Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1977], p. 281). To be a Christian is to die to self, to ambition, to ego, and to pride. It is to bow in humble submission to Christ’s lordship. It is to obey the Lord’s command expressed in Luke 9:23: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” It is to follow the example of Paul himself, who told the Corinthians, “I die daily” (1 Cor. 15:31).

Consider … as dead is from nekroō, and literally means “kill,” or “put to death.” Believers are to make a decisive resolution to put sin to death, bringing the flesh under subjection to the Spirit-filled new disposition.

People have often misinterpreted Paul’s words here, in much the same way as Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:29-30 and 18:8 have been. Taking those passages literally, many have physically injured themselves. According to tradition, Origen, one of the great theologians of the early church, was voluntarily castrated (based on his misinterpretation of Matt. 19:12). A common sight in European cities during the Middle Ages was a group known as the Flagellants. Marching through the streets in solemn processions, they scourged themselves in penance for their sins. Nor are such misinterpretations a thing of the past. I once met a man who wore a belt studded with nails that constantly tore his flesh. He felt that by so doing he was killing the flesh as well as suffering to atone for his sins.

Paul, however, is not advocating the very asceticism he condemned in chapter 2. Rather, he is calling for the elimination of everything in the believer’s life that is contrary to godliness. He told the Romans, “If you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:13). Only then will the believer experience spiritual fullness as God intended.

The battle with sin is common to all believers, even Paul (cf. Rom. 7:14-25). The desire of the new inner man to live a life pleasing to God is held back by the old, sinful flesh with its fallen patterns. Although believers are new creatures on the inside (2 Cor. 5:17), the new creatures live in old bodies. Thus our bodies can either be instruments for righteousness, or for iniquity. For this reason Paul wrote in Romans 12:1-2, “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Therefore refers to the truths of 3:1-4. Paul constantly links doctrine and practice in his epistles. Since believers share in Christ’s death and resurrection, have their lives hidden with Him, and will one day be revealed in glory with Him, they must kill sin. As heavenly citizens, believers need to cut the ties with the sinful patterns of their former life.

Theology is not an ivory tower academic exercise reserved for specialists. Sound theology is foundational to spiritual growth. As noted in the previous chapter, Romans 6 also shows the connection between doctrine and practice. In 6:1-10, Paul teaches the truth of the believer’s union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. On that basis he writes, “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Rom. 6:11-13).

Although obscured by the NASB translation, the Greek text says to kill the members of your earthly body (not just to consider them as dead). Paul uses a figure of speech known as metonymy. When he speaks of killing bodily parts or members, Paul is actually referring to the sins associated with those members. It should be noted that this hits at the Colossian dualism regarding body and spirit. Paul is saying that the body should be holy, under the control of the redeemed spirit. The body does what the inner disposition compels it to do—and a Spirit-controlled body must do what is good. This will happen until the day when the body will be redeemed (Rom. 8:23).

In 3:5-9a, Paul gives two sample lists of sins to kill. The lists include some of the most common and troubling sins believers face. They should not, however, be considered exhaustive. The first list, in 3:5, comprises sins of perverted love; the second, in 3:8-9a, contains those of wicked hate. The first list begins with acts and progresses to motives, whereas the second begins with motives and progresses to acts. The first list involves personal sins, the second social ones. The first list relates to feelings, the second to speech. In between the lists (3:6-7), Paul gives two reasons for putting sin to death.

SINS OF PERVERTED LOVE

immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. (3:5b)

These are personal sins relate to our feelings. Paul progresses backward from the evil act to the underlying motive. Immorality, the evil act, takes place because of impurity. Impurity comes from perverted passion and evil desire, which in turn come from the root sin of greed.

Immorality translates porneia and refers to sexual sin. Our English word pornography derives from porneia and graphe, which means a writing. Pornography is thus a writing (or picture) about sexual sin. Porneia originally referred to prostitution (the related word pornē is the Greek word for “prostitute”). In the New Testament, however, its meaning broadens to include any form of illicit sex. In sharp contrast to the prevailing attitude in the ancient world, the Bible strictly forbids any sexual activity outside the marriage bond between a man and a woman. The Jerusalem Council ordered Gentile believers to avoid immorality (Acts 15:20, 29; 21:25). Paul was horrified to hear that it had surfaced in the Corinthian church (1 Cor. 5:1), and he told them to flee from it (1 Cor. 6:18). Immorality heads the list of the deeds of the flesh (Gal. 5:19) and is not proper behavior for the saints (Eph. 5:3). The biblical view of immorality is summarized in 1 Thessalonians 4:3: “This is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality.”

Impurity translates akatharsia, from which the word catharsis or “cleansing” comes. The alpha privitive (a) makes it a negative, meaning “filthiness,” or “uncleanness.” It is a more general term than immorality, going beyond the act to the evil thoughts and intentions of the mind. Jesus said, “Everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matt. 5:28), because “from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness” (Mark 7:21-22). Impurity is also one of the deeds of the flesh (Gal. 5:19). It is not to be indulged in by believers (Eph. 5:3), because “God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:7).

Evil behavior begins with evil thoughts. Therefore the battle against all sin, especially sexual sin, begins in the mind. Evil thoughts produce sinful behavior, and pure thoughts produce righteous behavior. That is why Paul counsels, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things” (Phil. 4:8), and “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you” (Col. 3:16).

The distinction between passion and evil desire is not great. Pathos (passion) refers to the sexual passion set loose in the body, as its two other occurrences in the New Testament indicate (cf. Rom. 1:26; 1 Thess. 4:5). In this context, evil desire undoubtedly also refers to the sexual lust created in the mind (cf. James 1:15). Perhaps the difference between the two terms is that passion is the physical and evil desire the mental side of the same vice. The two terms appear together in 1 Thessalonians 4:5, where Paul commands Christians not to live “in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God.” Such behavior is completely inappropriate for believers.

Paul mentions greed, or covetousness, last because it is the evil root from which all the previous sins spring. It is also mentioned last in the Ten Commandments (cf. Ex. 20:17; Deut. 5:21). Pleonexia (greed) comes from two Greek words: pleon, “more,” and exō, “to have.” It is the insatiable desire to have more, to have what is forbidden. As such, it is the source of fights and quarrels (James 4:2), as well as lusts, passion, and sin.

Because it places selfish desire above obedience to God, greed amounts to idolatry. Covetousness is the root cause of all sin. William Barclay wrote, “It is, therefore, a sin with a very wide range. If it is the desire for money, it leads to theft. If it is the desire for prestige, it leads to evil ambition. If it is the desire for power, it leads to sadistic tyranny. If it is the desire for a person, it leads to sexual sin” (The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians [Louisville, Ky: Westminster, 1975], p. 152).

When people sin, it is at its basis their doing what they desire, rather than what God desires. That is, in essence, to worship themselves instead of God, and that is idolatry. The Puritan Stephen Charnock wrote,

Paul links sexual immorality, covetousness, and idolatry in Ephesians 5:3-5: “Do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”

The Old Testament also associates sexual sin with idolatry. People worshiped pagan deities because the sex orgies that were part of that worship legitimized and fulfilled their corrupt passions. Numbers 25:1-3 clearly associates Israel’s sin of idolatry with sexual immorality: “While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the Lord was angry against Israel.”

The antidote for covetousness is contentment. A contented person will not desire to violate another person sexually, or covet anything that person owns. A person who can say with Paul, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am” (Phil. 4:11), is not likely to struggle with covetousness. Contentment comes from trusting God. The basis of that trust is our knowledge of Him and His purposes for His people as revealed in Scripture.

Contentment is the opposite of covetousness. Whereas the covetous, greedy person worships himself, the contented person worships God. The Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs wrote,

Attacking covetousness lays the axe to a root cause of sin. When contentment replaces covetousness, the latter cannot give rise to the process that culminates in an act of sin.

REASONS FOR PUTTING SIN TO DEATH

For it is on account of these things that the wrath of God will come, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. (3:5-6)

Having given one list of sins, Paul pauses before going on to the second and gives two strong, motivating reasons for putting sin to death.

SIN BRINGS GOD’S JUDGMENT

For it is on account of these things that the wrath of God will come, (3:6)

God’s wrath is “His eternal detestation of all unrighteousness. It is the displeasure and indignation of Divine equity against evil. It is the holiness of God stirred into activity against sin” (Arthur W. Pink, The Attributes of God [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1975], p. 83). Wrath is God’s constant, invariable reaction to sin.

Unbelievers will experience the full force of God’s eternal wrath. Paul writes in Romans 1:18, “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” Because the unbeliever does not have faith in Christ, “the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36; cf. Rom. 2:8). Unbelievers are “storing up wrath for [themselves] in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Rom. 2:5). Because wrath comes on account of these things, the sins Paul has just mentioned that typify sin in general, believers should have no part in them. Sin brings wrath, not blessing. It never brings true happiness. Because believers have been delivered “from the wrath to come” (1 Thess. 1:10), and will experience no wrath (1 Thess. 5:9), Paul is not warning us that if we sin we will feel the furious wrath of God. Rather he is saying that those who are Christ’s, who have been made one with Him, who love Him and serve His glory, would certainly not wish to participate in those kinds of behaviors and thoughts that are characteristic of those who will feel His eternal wrath. The children of God would certainly not want to act like the children of wrath.

Although believers have been delivered from God’s wrath (cf. Rom. 5:9), they are subject to His chastening. Hebrews 12:5-6 reminds us not to forget “the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.’” God will react against sin. The unbeliever will experience His eternal wrath, and the believer His loving chastening. Either way, all who pursue sin will suffer the consequences.

SIN IS A PART OF THE BELIEVER’S PAST

and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. (3:7)

Paul gives a second reason for putting sin to death, saying in effect, “You know to some degree how it was to live in sin. You hated it and that is why you came to Christ—to be delivered from your manner of life.” Similarly, Paul said to the Ephesian believers,

In light of that, Spurgeon asks,

Why would anyone who has been made rich return to the slums to live in poverty? How can a new creature act like an old one (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17)? “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (Rom. 6:1-2).

SINS OF WICKED HATE

But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, (3:8-9a)

The sins in this second list are not so much personal as social; they are committed directly against other people. Reversing the pattern of the first list, Paul begins with the motive and progresses to the evil act. Put … aside is from apotithēmi, a word that is used for taking off clothes (cf. Acts 7:58; 1 Pet. 2:1). As a person takes off his dirty clothes at the end of the day, so should believers discard the filthy, tattered rags of their old life. Paul may have in mind here the practice of baptism in the early church. Those being baptized would lay aside their old clothes before their baptism and be given a new white robe afterwards. Paul calls upon believers to put aside the remnants of their old life.

Orge (anger) is a deep, smoldering, resentful bitterness. It is the settled heart attitude of the angry person. Provocations do not create his anger, but merely reveal that he is an angry person and give him a target for his fury. That has no place in a Christian’s life (cf. Eph. 4:31). Rather, believers are to be “slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God” (James 1:19-20).

In contrast to orgē, thumos (wrath) refers to a sudden outburst of anger. The Greeks likened it to a fire in straw, which flares up briefly and is gone. It is used to speak of those in the synagogue of Nazareth who exploded in anger upon hearing Jesus’ teachings (Luke 4:28). It is used similarly of the Ephesian craftsmen’s anger over Paul’s preaching (Acts 19:28). It is one of the deeds of the flesh (Gal. 5:20), and it is not acceptable behavior for Christians (Eph. 4:31).

Anger and wrath are closely related. The churning, boiling anger that often lies just below the surface gives rise to eruptions of wrath. And many unbelievers live with a deep-seated resentment that feeds their anger. They do not understand why they are alive and enduring the pains of life. They did not ask for their circumstances, and they do not know how to handle them. All of that stokes the fires of their anger and makes them even more prone to explosions of wrath when exacerbated.

Malice translates kakia, a general term for moral evil. J. B. Lightfoot defines it as “the vicious nature which is bent on doing harm to others” (St. Paul’s Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon [1879; reprint, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1959], p. 214). In this context, it probably refers to the harm caused by evil speech.

Anger, wrath, and malice often result in slander. The Greek word translated “slander” is blasphēmia, from which our English word blasphemy derives. When used in relation to God, it is translated “blasphemy.” When used in relation to people, as here, it is translated “slander.” To slander people, however, is to blaspheme God, inasmuch as He created men and women (cf. James 3:9). Such foolish talk is not to be indulged in lightly. Our Lord solemnly warned in Matthew 5:22 that “whoever shall say to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever shall say, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.” People are to be treated with dignity because they are made in the image of God. The believer’s speech must not be marred by insults or disparaging remarks directed at others. James laments that “from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way” (James 3:10).

The result of anger, wrath, and malice is abusive speech. That term refers to obscene and derogatory speech intended to hurt and wound someone. It could be translated “foul-mouthed abuse” (Lightfoot, p. 214). Such talk is expressly forbidden in Scripture. “There must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks” (Eph. 5:4). Jesus said, “The good man out of his good treasure brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil” (Matt. 12:35). Our Lord further stressed the seriousness of watching what we say when He warned that “every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgment” (Matt. 12:36).

Paul warns against a final sin by exhorting believers not to lie to one another. It would be a helpful (and time-consuming) study to begin in Genesis and find every lie in the Bible. Satan lied in deceiving Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:4-5). Cain lied to God after murdering Abel (Gen. 4:9). Abraham lied, claiming Sarah was his sister instead of his wife (Gen. 12:11-19; 20:2). Sarah lied to the three angelic visitors (Gen. 18:15), and to the king of Gerar (Gen. 20:5). Isaac lied by denying that Rebecca was his wife (Gen. 26:7-10). Rebecca and Issac lied in their conspiracy to defraud Esau of his birthright (Gen. 27:6-24). That list does not even get us out of Genesis.

Lying characterizes Satan (John 8:44), not God (Titus 1:2). When believers lie, they are imitating Satan, not their heavenly Father. They, of all people, should tell the truth.

So it is not unnecessary for Paul to urge those who are complete in Christ, and partakers of His risen life, to kill sin. That is because the battle for holiness is still being fought in the life of every Christian. It is because of that battle that Paul wrote, “We ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body” (Rom. 8:23). On that great day our flesh will be redeemed and we will no longer be temptable. We will have a new outer man acting in holiness that is a perfect match with the inner man who already loves holiness.

How can we be victorious in our struggle with sin? First, by starving it. Do not feed anger or resentment. Do not cater to sexual lust or covetousness. Second, by crowding it out with positive graces: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things” (Phil. 4:8). “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you” (Col. 3:16).