NOV 27

Colossians 3:8-9
Memorise Romans 6:6
“Seeing ye have put off the old man with his deeds”

It can be frustrating, when we read the Bible and hear numerous sermons about putting off wickedness from our lives, but find ourselves going back to the same old sins again and again. We are taught about justification and sanctification, and that we have been cleansed by the blood of Christ. Yet practically, we continue to struggle with sin, and harbor the same wicked desires that we had before we were saved. Many Christians have wrestled with this same question: if I am saved, why do I still sin?

Paul uses the analogy of putting off and putting on to describe the process of sanctification in a believer’s life. Here in Colossians 3, he is describing the new life that a Christian can have in Christ. Because of the finished work of Christ on the cross, our old man is crucified together with Him, and our lives are now under the loving care of Jesus. However, this does not automatically guarantee a state of sinless perfection while we are still living on this earth. Paul acknowledges that our sinful habits will still be there. What he tells us though, is that we now have the ability to actively and consciously put them off, in very much the same way that we would strip ourselves of clothes that have been soiled. With salvation comes a clear perspective of the seriousness and terribleness of sin, and we must discard them, and actively and wholly rid ourselves of them, as the word for ‘put off’ in Colossians 3:9 suggests.

What Paul is therefore saying, is that salvation does not mean that we are suddenly completely free from all sin. Instead, our new worldview and union with Christ means that now, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we have the ability to not sin. Our old man could not help but sin, for before we were saved, we did not know better and were slaves to sin. But now our old man has been crucified with Christ, and enabled us to be free from the deathly clutches of sin (Rom 6:6). Though the remnants of our old man continue to haunt us, it is no longer our nature. We are risen with Christ and, with His help, we can daily choose to put off all these sins; put off the old man with his deeds.

Thought: Salvation does not mean we cannot sin, but that we can not sin.
Prayer: Lord, may you grant me the strength daily to put off all sinful thoughts, desires and deeds, that I may be holy before Thee.