Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature… (Colossians 3:5, NIV)
My wife has golfer’s elbow. She is not a golfer.
I found this out—the part about the golfer’s elbow—when I came home the other day and she was wearing one of those fancy elastic and plastic bands the doctors prescribe these days for tendon and muscle problems.
I looked at that band on her forearm and had one question: “What’s that there for?”
You may be familiar with that old saw of pastors and teachers when it comes to hermeneutics (the interpretation of Scripture). They will tell you, “When you see a therefore in Scripture, you must ask yourself, ‘What’s it there for?’” Corny, I know. But helpful.
Life in heaven is not like life on earth. It’s glorious.We encounter such a therefore in Paul’s letter to the Colossians not long after we dive into chapter 3. He told his readers to put to death the things that are of our earthly nature—that is, sin. Then he listed a few: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, idolatry.
In the middle of that instruction we find the therefore. So we ask the key question, wanting to know what led Paul to encourage his readers—including us—to turn from these things. Was it a matter of strong morals? Was it to advance the Christian witness? Certainly these are possibilities. But we must back up a few lines to discover the impetus in Paul’s own writing.
Colossians 3:3-4 says this: “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
Now, therefore…
You see, the reason we want to live with sin cast aside is not to receive kudos for our fine character. It’s not to prove to the world that we really can do what Jesus did. Rather, we want to turn from sin because we are a people who, in Christ, are pointed to glory.
Life in heaven is not like life on earth. It’s glorious. And sin has no part in glory.
We won’t be perfected through and through until Christ appears. But we already died in the sense that our old life—that earthly life—is behind us. We’ve exchanged it for the life we have in Jesus. And that life should increasingly reveal the stamp of glory on us. Therefore we aim to kill off sin. We “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Colossians 3:10).
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Jeff Hopper
October 16, 2017
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.