How to Overcome Sin by Putting on Jesus Christ

When I plant seeds in my garden, there is still much old life in the soil. Weed seeds abound. Quickly, the old life manifests itself and competes with the new.

Sin overcomes us so regularly because we have not removed the welcome mat to the old life. We treat it like a pet golden retriever.

It is a cobra. Like weeding a garden, pulling the weeds of the old nature is a continuing task.

Almost all the sins Colossians 3:5 lists deal with sexual vice. Sexual immorality is sexual intercourse outside God’s established boundaries.

Impurity suggests sexual perversion. Lust is an uncontrolled desire that leads to sexual excesses or perversion. Evil desires are strong desires for the wrong things.

Pornographic materials introduce perverted images. They pollute the thought life and motivate deviant behavior. They are to your mind what pancreatic cancer is to your body.

Greed is a disregard for others’ rights. It is linked with idolatry.

Lust for wealth and forbidden sex put things in God’s place. Material things and sex are the gods of this age.

Why must we persistently pull the weeds of the old nature? Because of these specific things described in Colossians 3:5, the wrath of God comes on unbelievers.

Jesus died to deliver you from that wrath. He gave His life to lift you out of the reeking cesspool of sin. It is unfitting and ungrateful to return to and wallow in that cesspool.

Put away all destructive speech. I occasionally harvested potatoes when I worked at an orchard as a teenager. I finished the day covered with dirt. I was not appropriately dressed to visit someone in the hospital.

The holy Lord of the Universe lives inside you. The filthy garments of evil speech are inappropriate for His company.

^“But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips” (Colossians 3:8 NIV).

Anger is a settled feeling of hostility. Rage is the sudden and explosive outburst of that feeling.

Malice, which includes gossip, motivates one to injure others. Slander is defaming someone’s character by insulting talk.

Filthy language covers obscenity, innuendos, and suggestive expressions that reveal underlying impurity. Let it all be put out with the trash of the old way of life.

Put all lying behind you. Deliberate untruths, half-truths (which convey a wrong impression), and exaggeration that distort the facts all spring from the old nature. They breed suspicion and distrust.

To stabilize your life, take off the old self and put on the new self. Put on Jesus Christ. Seek to know Him better. Trust Him more. Recognize His will more readily. Obey Him more consistently.

Jesus does not make distinctions among people based on race, class, or culture. Follow His lead. What is your takeaway? See additional free spiritual growth resources for Christians.   #freediscipleshipresources #freeevangelismresources #freechristianleadershipresources

God has empowered me to write His Power for Your Weakness—260 Steps Toward Spiritual Strength. It’s a free, evangelistic, devotional, and discipleship e-book. Pastors have used it in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia to lead 6,671 people to Christ and teach the basics of Christianity to 15,636 people. I invite you to explore and use it in your setting. 

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