Colossians 3:5-7 5Therefore, put to death the members which are upon the earth, sexual immorality, impurity, lustful passion, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry, 6on account of which things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons [and daughters] of disobedience. 7In them you also once walked, when you were living in them.
Paul now gives one of his many vice lists of thing the Colossians must not do because these actions are part of the old life, to which they have died and should no longer be part of who they are or how they live. The sanctified new life in Christ is a decision of faith. This decisive decision is represented in the aorist tense exhortation put to death (nekrōsate). When something is put to death, its control ends. The problem we all face is represented in the phrase, the members which are upon the earth. Another way to say this is that we must end living in such as way as to please our deceived and depraved earthly existence. Members refers to our bodies and earthly existence, similar to what Paul argued in Romans 6. We must shift our focus from earthly thinking to heavenly thinking. Our priorities are no longer self but God’s kingdom. We seek to please not our selves or anything or anyone else in the world but we seek to please Christ. This marks a significant reprioritizing of our whole life.
The list of bad actions of our deceived members focuses especially upon acts of the flesh similar to Galatians 5:19-21. These are sins that come out of selfishness and seeking to fulfill desires that treat people as object to fulfill distorted desires. These are the types of actions that result when a person has total disregard for God and for others. Love for God and others is absent and replaced by love for self, and even that is misguided. These are the outcomes of those who think like the world and put first humanism in any of its forms.
God’s wrath is coming upon those who practice these actions. If people do not believe in God or believe the wrong things about God, they will be sadly surprised on the day of judgment. All people are held accountable for their actions in this life and will give an account for rejecting the light of God. Paul calls this rejection disobedience (apeitheias). This word also has the connotation of disbelief, which leads to disobedience. Not fearing God or worshipping him leads to rejecting God’s revelation and living in disobedience.
Verse 7 reminds the Colossians that they once lived that way. But they died to the old life, but they needed to keep that commitment and keep the old life nailed on the cross crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20). Walking in a metaphor for how one lives. Although a person becomes a believer in Jesus, that person must make the daily decision of who will be sovereign and be the guide for thinking and behavior. Saying one believes is not enough; there must be action that matches the claims.
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