Latest / Reformed Thinking / New People, Old Words: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New (Colossians 3:8–10)

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New People, Old Words: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New (Colossians 3:8–10) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed thinking. Welcome back to the deep dive.
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Today we're looking at something I think is a critical tension,
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maybe an overlooked one, right at the center of the Christian
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life. We, we celebrate this new
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identity, being new creations in Christ.
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We get the grace of our deliverance.
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But then we still struggle sometimes, you know, daily with
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these old corrosive patterns of speech and attitude.
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That's right. And we're going to be diving
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into Colossians chapter 3, looking specifically verses 8
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through 10 and this passage, it really does so much more than
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just give us a list of things not to do.
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It offers a deep, cohesive theological reason for why
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Christian obedience is even possible, and, frankly, why it's
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absolutely necessary. So our mission today is to
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unpack that. It is we want to dissect the
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doctrine of the believers new identity, what the allergians
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call the indicative, and then trace exactly how that reality
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that finished work compels us toward a practical rejection of
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relational sins. OK, let's unpack that.
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So we're really aiming to understand Paul's distinction
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here, which feels so sharp between who you are, your
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finished grace given identity in Christ, and how you act in the
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world today. And we're going to focus on
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those sins that can just quietly, almost invisibly,
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poison the atmosphere of a Christian community.
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Anger, malice, slander, deceit. Right, and we'll see why.
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Letting those things slide, treating them as minor
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behaviors, is, according to this text, a pretty grave theological
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mistake because it obscures the reality of the Gospel itself.
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It really does. So in Colossians 3, Paul is
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making a big shift. He's been talking about this
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high level doctrine, the supremacy of Christ, our union
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with him. And then he pivots hard into
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the, you know, the nuts and bolts of daily life, and he
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doesn't ease into it. He uses 2 words.
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But now. And that phrase, but now it
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functions as this huge historical dividing line.
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It's a statement that an entire age has changed.
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It signals that the believers former way of life, the whole
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system, is now strictly in the past, in the then, and that a
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new age has dawned. I think it's so important to get
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that this phrase marks a change in two histories at the same
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time, and both of them just completely redefine who the
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believer is and how they're supposed to live.
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Absolutely. The first history that's changed
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is what we call redemptive history.
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The old age of Adam's rule, that time of darkness and alienation
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from God. It's passing away because Christ
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has done his work. He's come, He has died.
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He has risen. The entire spiritual framework
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of reality has been reset. The whole spiritual environment
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has changed. Completely so the believer's
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life isn't just a slightly cleaned up version of their old
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one. They're now located, spiritually
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speaking, in a new cosmic era. And the second change.
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The second change is in personal history.
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For every believer, this means a literal transfer of domain.
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The sources used this strong language of being transferred
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from the dominion of darkness. That's the realm where sin
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reigned into the Kingdom of God's beloved Son, and this
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isn't something you hope for in the future.
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It's an accomplished reality of conversion.
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So that transfer, it's a definitive break with everything
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that defined the life they had before.
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And because they're in this new era, this new Kingdom, their
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conduct must change. It's not optional.
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The way they interact, especially with their words,
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becomes the visible evidence of this invisible transfer.
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Yeah, that's a great way to put it.
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If the new spiritual environment is grace and truth, then the old
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era's behaviors anger, malice, lies.
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They're not just bad habits anymore.
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They're foreign invaders. They're completely out of sync
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with the new spiritual reality you now inhabit.
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And that's why the commands that follow are so urgent.
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They're a demand to live consistently with the reality of
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your new citizenship. OK, so moving on from.
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But now Paul gets to the core problem of that old life, the
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old self, and our sources define this as something way more
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substantial than just a few character flaws.
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It sounds like he's describing the entire endemic inheritance,
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the whole system of life outside of Christ.
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That's the theological definition, yes.
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The old self isn't just a part of you that sins, it is the
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entire mode of existence inherited from Adam.
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It's a corporate identity, really.
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It's the corrupted humanity that began with the Fall.
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This mode of being was bent away from God, it was subject to His
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wrath, and it was enslaved to sin's grip.
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So before conversion, my identity was in Adam.
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Right. And the normal patterns of that
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life were characterized by the very things Paul lists here.
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Anger, malice, deception. That was the default setting.
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And the incredible claim Paul makes here is that this old self
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hasn't just been, you know, put in time out or suppressed.
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It's been definitively dealt with.
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He says Believers have put off the old self with its practices.
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This is where we have to slow down and justice.
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Appreciate the grammar. It carries the entire weight of
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the doctrine. When Paul says you have put off
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the old self, he uses the aerist verb tense.
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OK, so for those of us who maybe skipped Greek class, why is that
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so significant? Yeah, absolutely.
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It's significant because it's not a continuous action.
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It's not a suggestion. It indicates a completed, once
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for all act of God that happened at the moment of your union with
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the crucified and risen Christ. It's done.
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Finished. So conversion isn't just about
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forgiveness, it's a theological, spiritual severance.
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Precisely. It's what we call definitive
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sanctification, a decisive deliverance from the reign of
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sin in conversion. There was a legal break, an
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uncoupling from that old dynamic regime.
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The old self, as your defining identity was stripped away like
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a uniform you no longer have the right to wear.
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The dominion of sin over your fundamental being has been
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shattered. That means the believer is no
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longer fundamentally defined by that Adamic identity.
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Even when they fail, the core identity is fixed.
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It is fixed in Christ that the completed act of putting off the
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old self is the deep non negotiable theological
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foundation for every ethical demand that follows.
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You are not commanded to put off the old self daily to become
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accepted. You are commanded to live as one
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who has already put it off. And the sources really stressed
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that you can't separate that old identity from its behaviors.
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The old self and its practices are a package deal.
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They are the practices, are the fruit, the tangible expression
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of that old identity. It's a whole network of
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destructive attitudes, poison desires and corrosive actions
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that just naturally flowed from being in Adam.
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Paul links them together. When the self is put off, its
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practices are, as one source says, officially dismissed from
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having any rightful place in the believer's life.
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So the command to then discard specific sins is just the
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believer practically living out that legal reality.
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That's it exactly. This order, then the theological
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indicative, what's true of you before the ethical imperative,
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what you must do, that seems to anchor the entire Christian
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ethic. If we get that order wrong,
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we're in trouble. We are we slip into either
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legalism or despair. It's the central principle.
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Christian ethics flows from what God has already accomplished in
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the believer established by grace.
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It's not that our ethical effort is the way we achieve
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acceptance. That's the great safeguard
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against turning obedience into some kind of self merit project.
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And you see this, I sometimes see believers when they're
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struggling with a sin, they treat the commands as if they're
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trying to rear in their standing.
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They feel like they have to stop being angry so that God will be
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pleased with them again, as if that definitive break was
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conditional on their performance.
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And that's the very danger this structure guards against Paul is
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so clear. Obedience, the imperative, is
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commanded because the definitive work of conversion has already
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been done. You are commanded to put off
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sinful conduct because you have already put off the old self and
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put on the new. So the commands aren't a road
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map to earn grace, there are summons to live in the new
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reality we've already been given.
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Precisely, to put it in plain language, God has already
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declared you dead to sin and alive in Christ.
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Now he says live like it, and that changes the whole
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motivation from fear or striving to gratitude and faithfulness.
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The Christian life is not the effort of a slave trying to
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unlock chains he still wears. It's the struggle of a liberated
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person learning to walk in the freedom that's already been
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purchased for them. That liberation changes
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everything about the fight. If I'm fighting to earn my
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freedom, every failure is crushing.
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But if I'm fighting because I am free, every act of obedience is
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a joyful confirmation of my new identity.
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And that grounds our holiness in the finished work of Christ.
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It stops sanctification from becoming this frantic,
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exhausting, self reliant project.
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The only legitimate basis for your daily conduct is the
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reality that sins dominion is shattered and you are now
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defined solely by your union with the Lord.
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OK, so with that foundation of our new identity firmly
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establish the indicative, Paul now moves straight to the
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practical application. He starts detailing the specific
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behaviors that are just totally inconsistent with who we are
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now. Yes, and the command is
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forceful. You must put them all away.
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The sources highlight this powerful visual clothing imagery
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he uses. These sins aren't minor
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blemishes. They're like filthy clothes that
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must be deliberately stripped off and discarded because
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they're completely contaminated. And the reason for taking them
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off isn't just about moral cleanliness, though that's part
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of it. It's about theological
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appropriateness. These sins are just they're out
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of character for a new creation. Exactly.
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Indulging in these sins is, as the text implies, acting out of
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character. It's putting on the clothes of a
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person who in Christ no longer exists.
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Spiritually speaking, you're wearing the uniform of a dead
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man, of a corpse, and that act contradicts the definitive work
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God has done in you. So we had to deliberately,
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actively and consciously discard these garments.
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Paul's list here seems very systematic.
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He starts deep inside, in the heart and the mind, recognizing
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that the roots of all this relational conflict are internal
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attitudes. The destructive speech we see is
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just the symptom of a heart condition.
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It's a masterful progression because it shows how the poison
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develops. He first identifies 3 core
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internal attitudes of ill will that corrupt how we view and
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treat other believers. Let's start with anger, The
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Greek word orgue. A lot of people might write off
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their anger is just temperament. How is Paul's term different
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from, say, just being frustrated in a traffic jam?
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That's a great question. Orgue is defined not as that
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sharp, momentary reaction, but is a settled, smoldering
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resentment. It's the kind of anger that has
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taken up residence in the heart. It creates a spiritual
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environment where reconciliation just isn't possible.
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It's a brooding, festering state.
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So it might never even explode outwardly.
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It might not, but it simmers constantly beneath the surface,
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and it colors every single interaction.
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It's that readiness to feel slated, the persistent dwelling
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on past hurts, the absolute refusal to let go of a grudge.
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That's Orga. And that internal state then
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leads to the second term, wrath or thymos.
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This seems to be the opposite of Orge in terms of its speed, but
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it comes from the same place of ill will.
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It does. Thymos is anger and eruption.
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It's the sudden hot explosion. If orge is the slow bird of
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embers in a fireplace, thymos is the quick, sharp flare of a
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firecracker. It's the outburst, the lashing
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out, the immediate discharge of frustration in words or actions.
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So road rage or that instant unfiltered aggressive comment
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you type online before you even pause to think.
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That's a perfect modern example of Symos and both of them.
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The slow burn and the quick explosion are habits of the old
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self that tear down fellowship. And the third internal
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disposition is malice cuckia. This one sounds even darker,
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like an active desire for someone to get hurt.
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It is a general disposition of ill will.
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It's the readiness to think the absolute worst of another
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person. It's being secretly delighted by
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their downfall, or nursing a grudge in a way that you
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actually hope they stumble. Khakiya includes cynicism,
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spite, or that that perverse readiness to attribute the worst
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possible motive to what someone else does.
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These three attitudes, smoldering resentment, explosive
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temper and general ill will are the internal spiritual decay
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that has to be put away or it will inevitably spill out.
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Which brings us to the next part of the list.
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Right flowing directly out of those corrosive internal
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attitudes come the outward verbal sins.
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These are the specific speech habits of the old humanity that
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guarantee the breakdown of fellowship and trust.
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And the first one he lists is slander, blasphemia.
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In our world today, we might think of this as, you know, a
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public viral attack on someone's reputation.
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And it certainly includes that of the blatant accusations meant
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to destroy someone. But the sources highlight that
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it often operates in a much more subtle way through insinuation.
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It's the whisper, the hint, the veiled comment that's designed
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to lower someone in the eyes of others without making a direct,
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provable claim. It's the dark art of the rumor
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mill. And the warning here about our
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motives is pretty sobering. Slander can even disguise itself
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as being spiritual. It absolutely can That phrase
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sharing a concern about another believer, well that can rapidly
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morph into slander when the real hidden motive is self
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gratification. It makes the speaker look
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superior or more in the know or more righteous.
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True concern seeks the good of the person and follows A
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biblical process of restoration. Slander seeks the gratification
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of the gossip and the destruction of a reputation.
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The goal is what separates them. OK, next on the list is obscene
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talk Iscrologia. And this goes way beyond just,
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you know, simple profanity. Much beyond iscrologia is any
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morally ugly, shameful, or filthy speech.
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This includes course joking language that demeans other
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people, or cruel sarcasm that uses wit to inflict wounds.
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It's any language that degrades others or just pollutes the
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entire atmosphere of a conversation, making it
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completely inappropriate for people who claim to bear the
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image of their creator. So if our words aren't building
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up, they're tearing down. That's Paul's logic, and he
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commands us to strip off all language that is ugly or
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shameful. And then we get to what feels
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like the most fundamental one. Lying.
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Do not lie to one another. It sounds so basic, but Paul
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lists it right alongside Malice and Wrath, which shows you how
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destructive he thinks it is. It is fundamental because lies,
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whether they're what we dismiss as small, white lies told for
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convenience, or they're bold, intentional deceptions, are
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profoundly destructive. They eat away at the very
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possibility of real fellowship. Honesty is the necessary
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bedrock, and any deceit instantly compromises the
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spiritual foundation of the community.
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And it's fascinating that Paul directs us at the internal
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community. Do not lie to one another.
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Yes. He focuses the command right
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where the consequences are most severe, within the body of
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Christ. The moment believers can't rely
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on the basic truthfulness of their brother or sister, the
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entire community structure just starts to fail.
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And this idea of deceit leading to a structural failure brings
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us to a powerful concept. The sources bring up that trust
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is the invisible architecture of any community.
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It's the unseen structure that lets the body function safely.
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It is. It's the unseen mechanism that
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allows us to interact, worship and serve together without being
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afraid of manipulation. Once that architecture is
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cracked by a deceit, even by those seemingly minor lies to
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avoid accountability or social awkwardness, the whole community
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becomes unstable. Fellowship simply cannot exist
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in the shadow of suspicion. Paul.
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Says lying within the churches especially grotesque.
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Why such strong language? Because it contradicts the very
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nature of the God we worship and the identity we now have.
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The church belongs to the God who Scripture tells us cannot
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lie. We follow Christ, who is the
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living truth, so to practice deceit within the community of
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truth is to live as if God were a liar, or as if we still belong
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to that old realm of darkness and deception.
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It's a grotesque internal contradiction of our identity.
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So This is why treating these relational sins lightly,
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excusing anger as just temperament or slanderous
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sharing or obscene talk as just jokes, it's so much more than a
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simple moral failing. It's what the sources call a
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serious theological mistake. Absolutely.
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A fellowship where these sins are common, where the atmosphere
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is thick with resentment, sharp outburst, and casual deceit, is
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a fellowship that is fundamentally out of step with
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the reality of the new self that God has created.
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It obscures the image of the Creator that God is trying to
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restore. Right.
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Christ doesn't build his church with the bricks of anger and
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malice. And then mortar them together
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with slander and filth. No, these are the speech habits
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of Adam, and they had to be put away entirely.
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So we've covered the definitive stripping off of the old self
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and the command to discard its practices.
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Now we need to turn to the other side of that coin, the
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definitive putting on of the new identity and how that identity
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has developed over time. Exactly just as the old self was
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definitive stripped off a completed act, Paul states with
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equal certainty that believers have put on the new self.
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And again he uses that artist tense, signaling a finished once
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for all act of God's grace. So the believer isn't waiting to
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be clothed. The clothing has already been
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provided. We're not standing there naked.
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Correct. This is a declaration of a
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completed status. God has already clothed the
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believer with a new identity, a new humanity that belongs
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entirely to the realm of Christ's resurrection life.
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The assurance of that is immense.
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The Christian is not standing there spiritually naked, you
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know, frantically trying to weave a cloak of virtue by their
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own effort. They are already located in a
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new realm, under Christ as the new head.
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We are, as Paul says, somewhere else, complete in him.
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And that assurance is so vital, especially when the struggle
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against those verbal sins feels overwhelming.
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It means we are fighting from a position of security and
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acceptance, not fighting for it. That is the essential insight.
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The definitive putting on of the new self is our resource, it's
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our promise, and it's our encouragement.
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You are fighting as one who already possesses the resources
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of the new life, not as a pauper or an outsider trying to get in.
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But the new self that has been definitively put on isn't
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static, is it? Paul immediately introduces this
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nuance, saying that this new self is being renewed.
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The theological language shifts here from something done to
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something ongoing. The verb tense shifts
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dramatically, which is why a close reading is so critical.
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We move from that past once we're all a wrist put off, put
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on to the present tense, which indicates A continuous, ongoing
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action. And this continuous development
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is the definition of progressive sanctification.
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The new self is a living reality, and it's developing and
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growing into its full intended state.
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So we have to ask who's responsible for the heavy
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lifting in this continuous process of renewal?
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Is it up to me? Well, this is where Reformed
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theology is so clear. The verb is being renewed is
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passive. This is the crucial point.
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It emphasizes that God is the primary actor.
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Believers are not expected to just grit their teeth and renew
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themselves by sheer willpower. We are renewed by God's Spirit
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working through His Word, conforming us to Christ's
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likeness. So this guards against the idea
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that because God does the work, we just sit back and do nothing.
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But it also guards against self-reliance.
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It does. We are active participants.
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We are the ones commanded to put off the sins, but we participate
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only by the strength the Spirit supplies.
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Our growth in holiness is a gift of grace that God is committed
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to completing, and we cooperate with that divine energy.
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We rely on the fact that God sustains the process.
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And Paul then specifies the precise fear where this renewal
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happens. It happens in knowledge.
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This can't be about just accumulating, you know, academic
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trivia about the Bible. No, not at all.
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This refers to a true, full, experiential knowledge of God.
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And in the context of the letter to the Colossians, Paul was
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countering false teachers who are offering an alternative
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wisdom, a secret, deeper spirituality you could get
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through human rules or rituals. Paul counters all of that by
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saying that real spiritual depth, true fullness of life, is
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found only in a deepening knowledge of Christ as he's
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revealed in the Gospel. So genuine holiness flows from
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the mind, the affections and the conscience being shaped by
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truth. Exactly this knowledge is
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revealed exclusively in Christ. As believers consistently fix
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their minds on the things above. As they meditate on God's truth
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and allow the Word of Christ to dwell richly within them, they
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are renewed. This process increasingly shapes
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their thoughts, mold their affections, guides their
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judgments, and informs their conscience.
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It sounds like the fight against anger and lying is fundamentally
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a fight for intellectual and spiritual focus.
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It is the more clearly we see God, His grace, His Holiness,
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His definitive action in our lives, the less attractive the
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filthy clothes of the old self become.
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Growth in holiness is inextricably linked to growth in
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a true, deep knowledge of who God is and what He has done for
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us. OK, so if this fear of renewal
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is knowledge, what's the ultimate destination?
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Where is this continuous knowledge based process leading
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us? And the destination is well,
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it's majestic. The renewal is directed after
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the image of its Creator, and that takes us right back to
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Genesis 1, where humanity was originally created to reflect
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God's character in the world. Sin horribly marred that image,
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but the purpose of sanctification is its full
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restoration and those who are united to Christ.
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This confirms that the work of renewal isn't just a moral
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upgrade or a little bit of behavior modification.
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It's the restoration of our original true humanity.
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It's nothing less than that the ongoing process conforms
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believers to the likeness of Christ, who is the perfect,
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untainted image of God. So God is undertaking the
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spectacular patient work, remaking His people to be what
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humanity was originally intended to be, reflectors of His glory,
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His truth, and His grace. So as believers actively put off
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anger, malice, and lies, and cultivate truthfulness and love,
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they are actually tangibly beginning to look more like
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their Lord. Yes, the new self develops and
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matures so that the image of the Creator shines more clearly in
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his people and threw their life together.
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All right. We've established the identity,
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we've received the behavior that's demanded and the
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continuous renewal of that identity.
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Let's try to bring this theological balance to bear on
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the listeners daily life, focusing on the struggle and the
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need for community integrity. OK, the sources insist that the
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Christian life has to be lived in this tension of the already
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and the not yet. The believers already knew there
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was a definitive fixed change of identity and a once for all
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break with sins legal dominion. But the believer is not yet
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fully renewed. There's an ongoing process of
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growth, development and, yes, struggle.
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And this duality, this theological balance, it's the
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great corrector. It keeps us from falling into
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two really severe theological errors.
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It does. First, the ongoing reality of
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the struggle corrects perfectionism.
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That's the crushing expectation that because Christ's work is
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perfect, our present experience must be immediately perfect.
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That just leads to despair. When sin persists, the not yet
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gives us realism and patience. And on the other side, the fact
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that the old self has been definitively put off corrects
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antinomianism for the listener that often just looks like a
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passive approach to our remaining sin.
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That's right. Antinomianism is that spiritual
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mistake of believing that because salvation is all by
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grace, our remaining sin is harmless or inevitable or just
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irrelevant. It's like a person who gets a
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full pardon from the governor but then keeps wearing their
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prison uniform and breaking the law, claiming, hey, I'm already
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pardoned, the law doesn't apply to me anymore.
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But the reality is that the new identity, the pardon, demands a
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change in conduct and appearance.
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Exactly. The old self has been put off.
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Sin no longer has a legitimate claim or jurisdiction over the
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believer. Therefore, we must not make
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peace with sins of speech and attitude as if they were part of
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our true self. The definitive work of God
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demands progressive, tangible change.
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This duality gives us realistic hope.
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The struggle is real, but the outcome is certain because God
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is the one doing the renewing. This brings us back to that
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warning. Paul calls excusing these
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relational sins a serious theological mistake.
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The stakes are clearly higher than just maintaining a pleasant
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atmosphere on a Sunday morning. The stakes are the credibility
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and integrity of the gospel witness itself when a community
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tolerates these relational sins. If they excuse orgy as just
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temperament, or treat slander as harmless sharing, or classify
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harsh demeaning speak as just a joke, they are fundamentally
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misrepresenting the work of Christ.
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They're acting as if the new creation hasn't actually
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arrived. They're obscuring the image of
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the Creator that God is restoring in their midst.
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Tolerating malice and deceit essentially tells the world and
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tells each other that the definitive work of Christ wasn't
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powerful enough to actually change the way we live and
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speak. It presents a Christianity where
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the core identity has changed, but the actual operating system
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is still running on that old corrupted Adamic code.
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And the very nature of the sins Paul targets Anger, malice,
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slander, deceit. They're almost entirely
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relational and verbal. This shows that holiness isn't a
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purely private, internal matter. It's essential to our life
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together. It's the barometer of a church's
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spiritual health. If a community proclaims
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Christ's supremacy, but its members continually use the
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speech habits of the old humanity, that community's
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witness is undermined and their fellowship is poisoned from
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within. We have to see these sins not as
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minor failures of manners, but is outright contradictions of
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our grace given identity. So the way we approach the daily
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struggle against destructive speech must be completely
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informed by our definitive identity in Christ.
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It changes the nature of the fight.
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It moves the entire battleground.
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The struggle against anger, malice, slander and lying is not
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the desperate, effortful striving of a slaying trying to
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unlock chains because the chains have already been broken.
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It is the steady, sometimes agonizing effort of a liberated
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person learning how to walk straight in the new reality of
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freedom. And every step of obedience,
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every time we refuse to engage in slander, every decision to
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choose truthfulness over convenience, it's tied to God's
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larger creative plan. Every act of putting away ill
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will or choosing gracious speech is a practical participation in
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God's work of new creation. These acts confirm that the
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believer genuinely belongs to the new age that is dawned in
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Christ, not the old age that is passing away.
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It's a lived public confession of the new identity we've
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already received. This means our words, even in
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small, seemingly insignificant conversations, carry immense
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theological weight. They absolutely do.
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Our words are, in a very real sense, eschatological.
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They reveal whether we're aligning ourselves with the
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trajectory of the old age, which is passing away, or with the new
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humanity that is dawning in Christ.
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The ongoing patient work of God's Spirit is reshaping the
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very core of our being, and that change shows up most clearly in
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what we choose to put into the world with our mouths.
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We've seen today that the Christian life is defined by
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this radical grace granted change of identity, where the
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old self and its practices, especially destructive
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relational speech, have been definitively discarded.
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Obedience is simply the process of living consistently with the
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new identity we've already received.
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And if we really grasp the depth of this, we realize that the
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struggle to put off anger and lies is actually the joyful
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confirmation that the decisive battle has already been won.
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The ongoing work of God is reshaping our thoughts, our
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affections, and our speech toward the beautiful image of
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the Creator. So since the continuous renewal
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of the new self happened specifically in knowledge, maybe
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here's a thought for you to consider in the days ahead.
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What specific aspect of God's revealed truth do you need to
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pursue more diligently, Whether that's through careful study of
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the gospel? We're meditating on the
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character of Christ to allow your thoughts, your affections,
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and your conscience to be shaped more clearly after the image of
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its Creator. Where are you maybe lacking the
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knowledge that's required for that particular area of your
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life to be renewed? That pursuit of knowledge is a
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worthy 1. Thank you for joining us for
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this deep dive.