Robes Or Rags

Title: Robes or Rags?

Text: Colossians 3:5-11

So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires. Don’t be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is idolatry. (Colossians 3:5)

God’s terrible anger will come upon those who do such things. (Colossians 3:6)

You used to do them when your life was still part of this world. (Colossians 3:7)

But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. (Colossians 3:8)

Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old evil nature and all its wicked deeds. (Colossians 3:9)

In its place you have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature within you. (Colossians 3:10)

In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. (Colossians 3:11)

Introduction

- Beggar’s new clothes

Heaven bound believers are to be clothed with royal robes of righteousness while those who are earth bound is still in rags of filth.

Oriental, Greek and Roman religions teach little or nothing about personal holiness. A person could bring sacrifices, say prayers and go away from the altar and commit sin. No one will think he is inconsistent.

This is not so with Christianity. Heaven bound believers are expected to be clothed in royal robes of righteousness and not rags of filth and sin.

Paul having dealt with the heart and mind in verse 1-4, begins to instruct the Colossians in regards to the practices that are wrong.

He firstly instructed the Colossians:

1. To put to death the sexual sin that enslaves the body.

In verse 5, Paul listed the sexual sins which lurk in the secret alleys of believers.

(Sexual sin) Fornication –

Illicit sexual relationship which includes adultery, sexual relationship before marriage, bestiality, homosexuality and lesbianism.

Uncleanness – (akatharsia) moral impurity, doing things which are dirty, pollute and soil life.

(impurity) inordinate affection – deprave or foul passion

(Lust) Passion –

depraved passion, vile passions

(Shameful desires) evil desires –

desire, craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden, lust

covetousness –

wanting something which does not belong to you and in this context it speaks about the secret greed of lusting after the opposite sex.

Sexual sins start in the secret desires of the heart and once left unchecked it will start to grow like a cancerous tumor, destroying the whole life of the person.

Sexual sins have caused ministers to fall, marriages to breakdown, diseases to develop. It is satan’s number one weapon in destroying the believer. That is why in recent times sexual temptations are every where. Pornographic material can be obtained easily. MTV are filled with sensual material.

I strongly advise Parents to remove MTV from your children’s diet. MTV corrupts the mind of your children. Monitor the internet; apply for internet filtering so that your children are protected from pornographic material.

Sexual sins carry a higher degree of seriousness with it because:

a. You sin against your body. (1 Cor 6:18)

b. You defile the temple of the Spirit. (1 Cor 6:19)

c. You will not inherit the Kingdom of God. (Gal 5:19-21)

d. You will be faced the wrath of God. (Col 3:6)

e. Sexual sins enslave the human person and keep the person in bondage. Deliverance is often needed in order to deal with such sins.

Paul says that we are to put it to death. Kill it before it eats you up. Enforce spiritual chemotherapy to totally wipe it off.

How to put it to death?

i. Confession

ii. Repentance

iii. Renunciation and deliverance

iv. Accountability

Secondly Paul instructed the Colossians:

2. To strip off the social sins that enslaves the emotion and the tongue.

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"

In verse 8-9, Paul instructed the Colossians to deal with sins that enslaves the emotion and tongue. They are also known as social sins because they affect people around us. Paul used the word “put off” because they are like filthy garments which need to be stripped away piece by piece.

Someone has called these the sins of "good standing." Because we are so accustomed to anger, critical attitudes, lying and coarse humor among believers that we are no longer convicted about these sins.

We would be shocked to see a church member commit a sensual sin, but we will wink or excuse a lying, critical or angry spirit -- saying "well that is just they way they are or the way I am".