Mortify Sin and Put On Renewed Identity in Christ
Resurrection life requires the killing of old patterns and the embrace of renewed identity in Christ.
Colossians 3:5–11 (BSB)
5 Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.
7 When you lived among them, you also used to walk in these ways.
8 But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
9 Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices,
10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.
What is the big idea of Colossians 3:5–11?
Resurrection life requires the killing of old patterns and the embrace of renewed identity in Christ.
How does Colossians 3:5–11 point to Christ?
Through union with Christ’s death and resurrection, believers are freed from their former enslaving sins; the cross forgives, and the risen life empowers the mortification of idolatry and renewal into God’s image.
How does Colossians 3:5–11 relate to the life and ministry of Jesus?
The passage rests on union with Christ in his death and resurrection. Because Christ died and believers have died with him, the old earthly life must be put to death. Because Christ is risen and is the believer’s life, the new self is being renewed according to the Creator’s image. Christ is not merely an example of moral purity; he is the life, identity, and renewing center of the new humanity.
Authorial Intent
To command believers to mortify sinful behaviors belonging to their former life and to embrace renewed identity in Christ that transcends earthly distinctions.
Literary Context
Colossians 3:5-11 applies the resurrection identity of Colossians 3:1-4. Since believers have been raised with Christ, have died, and have their life hidden with Christ in God, they must now put to death earthly sins and put off the practices of the old self. This section begins the concrete ethical application that continues into Colossians 3:12-17.
Chapter: Colossians 3
Raised with Christ: Putting Off the Old Life and Putting On the New
Because believers have been raised with Christ and their life is hidden with him, they must put off the old life, put on the new, and bring every relationship and action under the lordship of Christ.