Be Killing Sin Series

II. BY READYING OUR HEARTS FOR HEAVEN

If the first way we get ready is by readying our minds—setting them “on things that are above, where Christ is”—the second way we get ready is by readying our hearts. And when I speak of our hearts, what I mean is our affections, our desires. What do we long for? What do we cherish?

Now, Paul says here that we ready our hearts (1) by putting off what is earthly and (2) by putting on what is heavenly. And we must look at the putting off part first. And, believe me, it’s a bloody business.

What we are to put off, of course, is the desire for sin. You may notice that this passage has three different ways of talking about this. In verse 9, we’re told to “put off the old self.” In the verse before that, verse 8, we’re told to “put away” such things as “anger, wrath, malice,” and so forth. But the strongest language is the language used first, in verse 5. There we’re told to “put to death…what is earthly in [us],” things like “sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness.” We must put them to death. We must be killing sin.

Why are we so loath to do this? Why am I so reluctant, so unwilling? I can hardly bring myself to kill a bug—not because I am afraid of insects but because I respect life. So, Jan will ask me to do away with some little critter, and I grab a paper cup so as to capture the hapless fellow and take him outdoors. I can’t create life, so I don’t like taking it. But let a scorpion show its evil form in my vicinity, and I have no hesitation. I’ll kill it without blinking and think I’ve done the world some good.

Why aren’t we like that with sin? Oh, it comes to us dressed in such appealing attire. But what we don’t see is the knife it carries in the folds of its robes. It is like a fishing lure, which I can only assume looks irresistible to a fish. But what the fish doesn’t see is the barb—and not just one in most cases but many. It looks like life, but it is in actuality death. And, to quote John Owen, we must be killing sin, or it will be killing us.

Our desires, then, must be transformed. Our affections must be changed. So we put off—or, better, put to death—what is earthly in us. And then we must put on what is heavenly. We see this in verse 9. We must “put on the new self,” which is, after all, “being renewed…after the image of its creator.” Do you see what this means? We were created in the image of God to begin with. We bear the Imago Dei. But we have sorely misshapen it. It is in the best of us a blurred image. But now, through Christ, the image is being restored. It is coming into focus. We are becoming more and more Christlike—or, at least, that is to be our intent—which means we are becoming more and more godly, “being renewed in…the image of [our] creator.”

Is that your desire? If you have died with Christ and been raised with Him, it is. It is your holy longing. Jesus once said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21). So, where is your heart? What do you have it set on? What do you desire more than anything? Is it Christ? It ought to be. I know that sounds “preachy,” but what do you expect? In any case, it’s true. And here’s the thing: Anything else you desire—though it may look pretty and promise much—it will in the end disappoint. Whatever it is—fame or fortune, sex or power, whatever—it cannot sustain and satisfy, not in the long run. For one day, if you are in Christ, you will be in heaven, and you will want to be developing a taste for it now. Because it is going to be all about Jesus. Do you think you can stand that? Best to get ready.