Put Sin To Death Colossians 3:1-11 · Join the Journey

Today, a group of us is heading down to camp. It’s going to be hot and dirty. I’ll pack extra clothes and probably change shirts two or three times a day. I usually wake up before the campers, grab a cup of coffee, and spend time with God—but by breakfast, I’m already sweating again. That’s camp life!

But in the afternoon, there’s something refreshing about taking off that dirty shirt and putting on a clean one.

That’s a lot like what Paul’s going to show us today in Colossians 3: it’s time to take off the old and put on the new.

Last week we saw Paul challenge us to stop living like the world. This week, in Colossians 3, he shows us how: by putting sin to death. In two weeks, Jeff will preach on what we put on in its place—the new life in Jesus looks like.

If you have your bibles turn with me to the book of Colossians. It’s on the right side of your bibles, in the NT, comes right after Philippians and right before 1 Thessalonians.

What are your hearts and minds set on?

Colossians 3:1-4

Colossians 3:1–4

Paul says, “Since you have been raised with Christ.”

If you’ve died with Jesus through faith at baptism, then you’ve also been raised with Him. So why would we keep wearing the old clothes of our sinful past? Paul says: fix your hearts and minds on Jesus—and get rid of anything that doesn’t belong to this new life.

When we come to Jesus we put to death our old life led by sin, and we are raised not only to eternity with Him, but our new way of living that starts here and now. And in order to live in this new way with Jesus at the center, we must fix our hearts and minds on him, not the things of our past.

So here in Chapter 3 Paul continues his comparison that he started at the end of Chapter 2. He goes into more detail about what the old life and what the new life look like.

Next week Jeff will dig into what our new lives in Jesus, our lives with our hearts and minds set on Him will look like. This morning we are going to look at our former life and how to go about putting it to death.

This is a theme through many of Paul’s letters. Let’s listen to how Paul puts it in.

Ephesians 4:22-25

Ephesians 4:22–25

22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.

Do you hear the contrast? The old life was corrupted by deceitful desires. But the new self is created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. That’s the exchange we’re called to make. Put them off the old self. Don’t let the devil gain a foothold in your life, in your family, in our church.

Paul then says in Romans 6:3-4

Romans 6:3–4

3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

If we have been baptized into Jesus we have put to death that old self. Stop living for sin! Put it to death. Set your hearts and minds on Jesus. Stop being led by your old self.

Put to death sin

Colossians 3:5-7

Colossians 3:5–7

Paul doesn’t pull punches here. He’s saying sin is not something to tolerate or manage—it’s something to execute. Kill it. Why? Because we have been raised with Jesus, we set our hearts and minds on him. Put to death sin!

Paul’s saying: don’t mess around with sin. Don’t coddle it. Drag it out back, put it out of its misery, bury it. Be done with it. Crush it out of your life, because the life you now live is not yours it belongs to Jesus Christ, and it is too be lived to please God.

It’s been said, “be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.” We are either dead in sin or dead to sin.

So what was this old life that we used to live in? Paul starts with saying, put to death sexual immorality. For those of us who want to draw lines and find out how far we can go. Here you go, any sexual activity that is outside what God has designed. God has designed sex to be a beautiful and great thing, between one man and one woman in the bounds of marriage. God’s design for sexuality is good—a gift for one man and one woman in the covenant of marriage. Anything outside of that, Paul says, is part of the old life we must put to death. And that includes pornography, lust, or even letting your mind go where it shouldn’t.

Anything outside of God’s design for sex in marriage, is sexual immorality, and has been corrupted by our evil deceitful desires. It takes what God meant to be a blessing in marriage, and destroys it. If you’re planning to get married but aren’t yet married, that’s outside of the bonds of marriage, if you want to make sure you two are going to be good together, and aren’t married it’s outside what God has designed it to be. If you’re doing everything but sex, it’s most likely sexual immorality, or impurity. Homosexuality, any thing outside what God has designed of one man and one woman in marriage. Put it off, put it to death in your life.

Lust, this is uncontrollable passion. Looking lustfully at others, pornography, filthy movies, books, games. Put it to death, keep your eyes and your minds on things above, not on that person that walks by or that’s on the screen.

Listen to how strongly Jesus speaks about lust.

Matthew 5:27-30

Matthew 5:27–30

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ j 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

Anyone who looks lustfully has already committed adultery in your heart. Cut it out, put it to death, act violently to it. Don’t play around with or brush it under rug. Oh boys will by boys. No. Carry it out back and end it! Be killing sin or sin will be killing you.

But let me be clear: this is not about shame. It’s about freedom. Sin promises much but always enslaves. Jesus offers life—and He has the power to free you from even the strongest chains.

If you're struggling with sexual sin, know that you are not beyond God's grace. Jesus has died and risen to give you grace. There's forgiveness, healing in this new life in Jesus. And you are not alone. And we want to walk with you through this struggle.

Paul moves from sexual sins to other sins. Evil desires- illicit cravings, greed coveting. Paul says put it to death.

It’s because of these things that the wrath of God is coming. And notice that Paul says, we too once walked in these things, but now put them to death. Be done with them.

Now maybe you’re thinking man I’m good I don’t struggle with sexual sins. well what about lying, or gossip or anger. The next section Paul addresses our speech.

Colossians 3:8-9

Colossians 3:8–9

Rid yourself of anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language, and lying to each other. What does your tongue say about your life? What does your tongue say about your heart? Is it still being led by sin, or have you put it to death, have you rid yourselves of it?

James says, the tongue is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

Many of us know the sting of saying the wrong thing—an unkind comment, a careless joke, or a moment of anger that left damage in its wake. Our words have a way of getting us into trouble, wounding others, and revealing what’s really going on in our hearts.

This is the old self led by sin. Have we put it to death? Have we taken off our dirty clothes and put on Jesus.

Colossians 3:10-11

Colossians 3:10–11

Put on the new self, that is being renewed. Put on Jesus. Jesus Christ is all!

Will dig into this in 2 weeks, but the question you must ask yourselves is ,what are we being clothed in? You have taken off your old self with its practices? And are we putting on Jesus?

How do we be killing sin?

So how do we actually do this? How do we kill sin in real life? Let me give you three practical steps:

First, if we are going to kill sin in our lives we must speak truth to sin. What did Jesus do every time he faced temptation in the wilderness? Jesus responded to every temptation with “it is written.” We sin when we don’t know, or don’t believe what God has said about that sin. So know what he says. Everyday read, study, know God’s word, so we can speak truth to the lies of temptation so we won’t fall into sin. As Journey Church we grow by studying the Bible together, increasing our desire to know the inspired and inerrant Word of God and humbly obeying its truth in everyday life. Don’t just know it, obey it. Speak the truth of God’s word to sin and temptation. This is the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God that we fend off the attacks of sin and temptation.

If we are going to kill sin in our lives speak truth to sin, it is written. But when temptation is too strong, then run! Flee temptation.

2 Timothy 2:22

22 Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Flee. Run. What did Joseph do when Potiphar’s wife day after day tried to get him to bed. He took off running, leaving everything behind. Run from areas where you know temptation will be. If you struggle with alcoholism, don’t go to the bar or hang around with those who do. If you struggle with pornography, block your phone, computer, or anything else that may tempt you. If you struggle with gossip, when people start sharing the new story, then walk away, run, man what a testament to getting in shape. What you doing? I’m running from sin. Flee from it.

If we are going to kill sin in our lives Speak truth to it, flee from it. But what do we do when we give in to temptation and sin. Confess sin

1 John 1:9-10

1 John 1:9–10

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

Confess your sins to God. We have all sinned and fallen short. Confess your sins to God he is faithful and just and he will forgive you. In fact he has already sent his Son Jesus to do just that.

Speak truth, flee, when we give in to temptation and sin confess it to God.

And know that you are not in this alone. Not only do we have the same Spirit that raised Jesus, living in us, to remind us of the truth of God’s word, and to convict of sin. But God has also put us together with one another.

We need to correct each other when we see one another sinning. As Journey Church lets walk side by side through the messiness of life with prayer, accountability, and encouragement. Find other followers of Jesus who will walk through the messiness of your life and pray with you, hold you accountable and encourage you. This isn’t easy or fun, it’s messy, but it’s what we must do, out of love of each other we need to correct and admonish each other. You are not alone.

And before we have to be called out by our brothers and sisters, this is what James tells us.

James 5:16

16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Confess your sins to a brother or sister and have them pray for you. This is accountability. And that’s what we must do to put sin to death in our lives. This is not a one and done. No everyday need to speak the truth to sin, flee from temptation, confess our sin to God and to each other.

If you are looking for brothers and sisters to walk with you through the messiness of your life, then Life Groups are a great place to find them. We have a number of groups that meet all over Washington and all through the week! We would love for you to find some brothers and sisters to walk with you.

Every time you speak truth to temptation, you’re taking off the old. Every time you flee from sin, you’re putting on the new. Every time you confess and receive forgiveness, you’re walking in your new identity in Jesus.

Friends, is there sin in your life that needs to be put to death today? Maybe you need to confess to God, or grab a trusted brother or sister to pray with you. Don’t carry your sin alone. Confess it to God. Invite someone to pray with you.

Maybe today, you realize you haven’t yet died to your old self—then come. Be baptized, be raised with Jesus, and start a new life with your heart and mind fixed on Him.

Let’s be a church that doesn’t manage sin but a church that puts sin to death and puts on Jesus every day.