Put Your Sins to Death - Colossians 3:5-11

1:06And this false teaching has told them that they need to submit to human tradition. They need to submit to rituals if they're not going to be disqualified. This teaching has told them: if you want to be a real Christian, or if you want to be qualified for heaven or qualified for salvation, you also, in addition, To believing in Jesus, you also need to go through these rituals. You need to observe these customs. Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch. But Paul says in the letter that we've been studying that this is nonsense. This is nonsense.

1:51The Colossians don't need these things because they've already died and they've been risen again. Therefore, no one can disqualify the Colossian Christians. Instead, what the Colossians need to do, instead of doing these human rituals, what they need to do is arm themselves with knowledge. Arm themselves with knowledge. We've seen that throughout this letter. Paul will say things like: if we don't want to be taken captive by this fake knowledge, this empty deceit, these philosophies of the world, instead, they need to be established in the faith. They need to know the doctrines. He'll say they need to be filled with knowledge. He'll say they need to be increasing in the knowledge of God. He keeps repeating this idea that Christians, after we become Christians, our biggest defense is going to be to fill ourselves with knowledge. And so we've been challenged by that as we've gone through this letter. As a Christian, it is not correct for us to only become a Christian and then never learn anything. Else. But we should be studying God's Word. We should be learning it. Paul actually says that this is why he toils so hard. He says this at the beginning of chapter 2. So that the churches will be knit together in love, but also so that they'll come to the full assurance of understanding, that they'll know the mystery of God, which is Christ, instead of being deluded by other arguments. So knowledge is key. And the benefit of that, the blessing of that, is that when we have knowledge of what Christ has done for us, it prevents us from being taken captive by these false teachings. When we have knowledge of who we are in Christ and our new identity in Christ, then we will think and act accordingly. So as we get into chapter 3, Paul takes this idea. He's given us the knowledge of who Christ is. He's given us the knowledge of who we are in Christ, that we've died and been buried when we came to salvation and been raised again to new life. He's given us this knowledge to arm us.

4:06And you might be thinking, okay, now what's the point? What good is all this head knowledge? Why does that help me? Is this practical? During my week, whenever I'm trying to live out what God wants me to do, why does it matter if I know all these things? Well, Paul says, yes, it is practical. It's actually vital. You can't live out. Those things without this knowledge. And chapter 3 makes that connection for us. Chapter 3 in Colossians takes that knowledge and says, okay, here's how you put it into practice. Spurgeon said that Colossians chapter 3 begins in heaven and ends in the kitchen. But you just get this picture that it is this transition between our knowledge and practice. So the last time we studied Colossians, we studied verses 1 through 4. Look at Colossians 3, verse 1. If then you have been raised with Christ, that's the knowledge. We've been raised with Christ. He just taught us that. So if then you have been raised with Christ, here's the practice. Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. So since you know this, do this. Look at verse 2. Do this. Set your minds on the things that are above, not on things that are on earth. So we're supposed to think about the Lord, think about heavenly things. That's a practice. Verse 3, why? Because of the knowledge we have. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ and God. That's what he just taught us in chapter 2. So he's saying, take this knowledge of the facts of who you are in Christ and do something about it. And the first application that we saw was that we need to be thinking, fixing our minds on heaven, thinking on those things. Well, today, he's going to continue that idea. Take the knowledge that he's just given us in chapter 2 about who we are, who Christ is, and apply that this time by putting our sin to death. Putting our sin to death.

6:14We need to change the way we think, and we need to change the way we act. Look at verse 5. Colossians 3, verse 5. Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. In these, you too once walked when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all.

7:21So, on the one hand, if the Colossians don't know who they are in Christ, then they're going to be taken captive by these teachings. But on the other hand, if they are armed with this knowledge, then they can put sin to death. They can kill it. That's what he's telling them to do: kill your sin, murder it, put sin to death. And, you know, he's not saying maybe you should ease off a little bit. My grandma, who is normally very old-fashioned, used to say to her six kids, she had six children, and this would always make them giggle a little bit because my grandma was so old-fashioned. But anytime they were about to go on a date, she would always say, It's okay if you kiss, just don't kiss and kiss. And she would say that every time they went on a date, and my aunts always tell me that story, and they laugh.

8:15But I don't think that that's what Paul is saying here, right? He's not saying, It's all right if you lie a little, just don't lie and lie and lie. That's not what he's saying. No, he's saying, Put your sin to death. Or look at verse 8, but now you must put them all away. Get rid of it, put it to death, not just a little bit, but be done with it. That's the command, and that's the call for you today. I'm going to pray before we step through this passage. Father, I pray that you'd help us.

8:54You have laid it out so simply. And Lord, when it comes to sin, sometimes we can be so simple-minded. So I pray that, Lord, as we step through this passage that is simple, and we step through this simple outline, I pray, Lord, that I pray that we can learn from it and that we could be inspired and committed to put sin to death, to work hard at this as Christians. I pray, Lord, that anybody in the room that's not a Christian, we just pray again, Lord, that they would see that this passage is for Christians. This passage is a simple message to your people about how, after we are saved and after we know you, and after this death and resurrection has happened, that you help us fight this sin.

9:57And so, I pray, Lord, that if there are unbelievers in the room, that you would cause them to yearn for that. Maybe they're sick of their sin. And I pray, Lord, that you would help them learn to turn to you and trust you and believe in you. In Jesus' name, amen. So, let's take a look at the sins that he mentions. Let's take a look at the sins that he mentions. Look at verse 5. There are two sets of sins that he's going to give in this passage. The first set deals primarily with our evil desires, our evil thoughts. The men look At some of these at Mancamp this weekend. So it's a little bit of a repetition for them. But the first set is dealing with evil desires and thoughts. The second set seems to be dealing with the way that we treat one another, our evil words, our attitudes. But look at the list in verse 5. You have sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Sexual immorality is the word porney, and that covers everything. So any kind of thing that you think of, any kind of perversion, any kind of act, that covers it. We need to put that all away as Christians. No sexual immorality has a place in a Christian's life. And I think he keeps that theme, like we talked about yesterday at Mancamp. I think he keeps that theme for the next few. He says sexual immorality, impurity, I think he's discussing impure thoughts or impure actions.

11:33Passions, I think that is lustful passions. Evil desires, that's a strong desire, controlling desire from lust. So all of that, it doesn't have a place in the Christian's life. We can't let ourselves get out of control. We should put those things to death. He also, at the end of that first list, mentions covetousness. Covetousness. Seems like it doesn't. Fit in, but it also seems like he makes this maybe the most serious of it all. Look at what he says: covetousness, which is idolatry.

12:11Covetousness, which is idolatry. So he's saying that Christians need to work hard to never covet what our neighbors have. And maybe he's keeping in that same vein of sexual sins. Maybe he's saying you shouldn't covet your neighbor's wife or something like that. Or maybe it's just any belongings, but we are not to covet because coveting shows discontentment. And it's actually, as he says, idolatry. It shows that we're not worshiping the true God of heaven. We are pointing our worship at something else. Covetous is idolatry, plain and simple. To break the tenth commandment is to break the first commandment. When we covet, we are worshiping idols in our heart. So sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry, we're to put them to death. They might be private sins. Maybe you do those in your home as a Christian. Maybe you're a brand new believer and you haven't been able to shake those sins. Or maybe you've been struggling with them for a long time. Well, the call for the Christian is to put them to death. Not to ease off, but to put them to death. The second set, look down at verse 8. We're going to quickly go through this second set: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk.

13:42Put them away. He follows this by saying, do not lie to one another. So all of these are dealing with ways that we treat each other. We're not supposed to get angry with each other. We're not supposed to be wrathful towards each other. And you might say, well, I should be angry at this brother. Maybe someone in this room has offended your wife or stood against your children or something like that. And you say, I know God is angry.

14:13I should be righteously angry at this brother. Well, it's not what Paul says, right? He says, you shouldn't. You shouldn't be angry or wrathful at your brother. Maybe you should instead forgive them and love them and clear the air. Approach them in love. And clear the air between you. Don't hold that anger. You certainly shouldn't be malicious to each other. That's the next one, malice and slander. So you shouldn't mean evil on your brother. Be malicious. You shouldn't slander your brother. Talk bad about him, to his face, even, or behind his back. You shouldn't slander. None of this has any place in the church. We're not to speak against each other.

14:57He says we shouldn't lie. We're supposed to be honest. With one another, we need to guard our speech. We shouldn't have filthy speech. Look at verse 8 again: obscene talk, filthy talk. None of that has a place in our life. So, all of these things, Paul is saying that you have, there's been a change in your life if you've become a Christian. And since that change has taken place, there are certain things in your life that you need to put to death.

15:30Our speech, we need to watch over. We need to realize, like Isaiah, that our lips can be unclean. And we need to purify our speech to one another. All of these are straightforward things, and we know what's expected. We know we need to obey. You know, there was a year of my life in my early 20s where I listened to a ridiculously huge amount of John MacArthur. I was addicted or something, and I don't listen to quite as much anymore, but I also don't remember a lot of the sermons I listened to. But the one I do remember for some reason, I always think of it, maybe it's because it's pretty violent or it stands out, but it was a sermon that he gave titled Hacking Agag to Pieces. It was the name of the sermon. And it was from that story, and it's still online. You could probably go listen to the sermon. It's from that story that in Samuel that. God had commanded Saul to go and defeat this army and put them to death. And Saul does it, kind of, right? He goes and obeys most of the way. He defeats this nation, but instead of killing the king, Agag, he keeps him, maybe as a trophy or something like that. Whatever the case, he didn't obey all the way. He knew what God wanted, and he disobeyed, at least in part. And so Samuel goes to him, and the Lord announces that he has rejected Saul. And then Samuel himself takes the responsibility to be obedient and do what the Lord said. And he himself hacks Agag to pieces. That's what it says in the scriptures. And the point, you know, I thought this was just an illustration that MacArthur was using. But if you go back and look at that text, that's the point. Samuel says to Saul, to obey is better than sacrifice. God would have liked it if you just listened and obeyed and you did these things. And in the same way, we are to obey. And I bring this up because I think that Paul's expectation in our passage today is that same kind of expectation. We are to put our sins to death. We are to put them away. We are to obey, not part way, but all the way.

17:53And that said, I don't think that in our text today, Paul is taking the tone of kind of a drill sergeant. Put these to death and being angry and tough at us, or something like that. I do think that's his expectation. We are to obey all the way. But it seems like he's conveying this idea that we can put them away. We are free to do this. There are reasons why we can do this. With the knowledge that you have as a Christian, if you truly understand what it means that you have died in Christ and you have been born again, raised again, then you don't have to be swayed by your temptations. You can instead put these to death. So, Paul is going to give us four reasons why we need to put our sin to death. That's going to be our outline today: four reasons to put your sins to death. Four reasons to put your sins to death. And the first reason in verse 5 is that they are earthly. They are earthly. Look at verse 5. Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. So, like we read earlier in verses 1 through 4, he has just gotten through saying, if all these heavenly realities are true about you, if your hope is actually hidden in heaven, and if Christ is in heaven and you are actually waiting for him to return and with him. To be glorified. If those are your hope, if that's what you're looking forward to, then think on heavenly things. And on the other hand, now he says, put to death what is earthly. So if all of our hope is tied up in heaven, then we need to think there, we need to put to death the earthly. You have been changed. Look back at chapter 2, verse 11.

19:55Paul says, In him you also were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses, in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. So you put aside that body of flesh. You died. You were buried. You're new. Your old self is dead. And so in our text today, Paul is saying, go ahead and let it be dead.

20:46If it's true about you, as a Christian, that these things have happened and your old self has died, then let it be dead. Kill those sins along with it. That's not your domain anymore. And he used this same idea that you have died in Christ to say in chapter 2 that we don't need to submit to earthly rituals. Now he's going to say the same thing that we don't need to submit to earthly sins. If we have died, then instead we can kill those sins. We can let them die along with our old self. So that's the first reason. They're earthly. The second reason that we'll move through quickly, the second reason is that they are despised. Verse 6. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming.

21:42It's pretty simple, right? These sins that he's mentioned, this sexual immorality that you might still be struggling with today, this covetousness that you might still be struggling with today. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. We read about it in Isaiah this morning in Sunday school. The wrath of God is coming. His day of vengeance is coming. We read about it in our scripture reading, in Revelation. The wrath of God is coming. These are the kinds of things these sins make God angry. And now we need to be careful, right? Because what's he saying here? Is he saying that the Christian who's believed in Christ, who also sins a lot, that those Christians are going to. Have to endure the wrath of God?

22:33Is that what he's saying? No, our sin is removed from us, right? As far as the East is from the West, we've been forgiven. That's the hope of Christians: that our sins have been paid for, and we're no longer going to suffer the wrath of God. We've been delivered. So, what is Paul saying when he says, on account of these, the wrath of God is coming? I don't think this is a threat. I think this is a reminder.

23:01These things are why God is angry. That's pretty simple, right? These things are why God is going to punish unbelievers. So, yes, we've been saved from the wrath to come, but that doesn't mean we should turn around and do the very thing God hates. If we love God, why in the world would we want to do the things that make him angry? You know, if a wife says to her husband, I'll never leave you, no matter what you do to me, the husband should still want to do good things to her, right? That doesn't mean the husband should say, Oh, okay, I'll do all these bad things. Or sometimes, maybe this happens in your house if there's two kids, and you've just spent a minute or two talking to one kid because they've been doing something bad, and you tell them very sternly, you know, the next time you do that, I want you to know you're going to get time out, or you're going to. To get a spanking or something like that. Well, then, this other kid, you didn't tell them that, right? And so they take the marker and go color on the wall or something like that. And of course, what you get mad at them for is they were listening that whole time. And just because you weren't talking to them, they knew that that was something that displeased you. And I think that's the same idea that Paul is saying here.

24:26Yes, you've been saved from the wrath of God, but these are the very things that make him angry to begin with. So why would you want to turn around and do those things that make him angry? Some of these are obvious. You know, it's easy for us to remember that sexual immorality displeases the Lord. We know he never participates in sexual immorality. That would be ridiculous to say. So that one's blatant. We know that displeases him, but maybe others are less blatant. The wrath and the anger or something like that. Like we said earlier, maybe you say, I know God is angry. I know God is wrathful towards the wicked. So can't I do that towards my brothers? But remember that vengeance is the Lord, like we've studied before. And being wrathful towards our brothers isn't our place. So when we're thinking about these sins, we need to remember that these are the things that make him angry. Why would we want to do them? All of these things, all of our sins. Not just the things in our list. Those are the reasons why God's wrath is coming. And even though it's not coming on believers, we still should never want to do them. He doesn't like them. We shouldn't do them. It's pretty simple. The third reason that we should put our sin to death is that they are old. They are old. Look at verse 7. In these, you too once walked when you were living in them.

26:01So we used to walk in these sins that he's telling us to put away. This characterizes our old life before we knew Christ. We once walked in these. Verse 8, but now you must put them all away. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator. So there's been a change in your life. Those things are the things that you used to do. You once walked in these sins before you became a Christian. You once lived in these sins, but not anymore. Now we put them all away. That's the old. We put it away.

26:53So the first picture we saw in verse 5, if you remember, was that we have died in Christ, and so we can. Go ahead and kill those sins. We can let the old self be dead. Now he's using a different picture, one of clothing. And you guys have seen this elsewhere in the New Testament, in Romans and in Ephesians, but this idea that we've got clothes that we're not supposed to wear anymore. They're the clothes that belong to our old self. Instead, we're supposed to put on the new man. And so in verse 9, when he says, Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with his practices, he's saying, you already took off those clothes when you trusted in Christ. You took off the old clothes. You shouldn't put them back on and sin again.

27:42You know, if you had just spent the whole day, maybe you were traveling from somewhere far away, Australia, and you spent the whole day on an airplane, and there are all these germs just eager to make you sick, okay? And then on your way home, you stop by the hospital and pick up some more germs, and then you go for a run. You know, you're sweaty, maybe muddy, you splash in the mud. And so you get home, it's time for bed, and you're very dirty, right? What are you going to do? You're going to take a shower, and it's going to feel amazing, and you're going to get all clean, okay? But then it would be ridiculous, after you got all clean and you're ready for bed, to put on those dirty clothes and snuggle under the covers, right? That wouldn't even make sense.

28:30Be ridiculous. And I think that's part of the picture that Paul is giving. You took off those old dirty clothes. You've got no place putting them back on again and going back to those sins, the wrath, the malice, the slander. Once you took the old man off, you should leave it off. As Christians, we need to remember, we need to realize this dramatic change that's taken place in our life. We're new and we're different and we're being renewed in knowledge. Look at verse 10, having put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge. There's knowledge again, like we talked about at the beginning. We're supposed to be being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. So we're supposed to look more and more like our creator. We're supposed to be growing in knowledge, progressing, moving forward, not backward. So don't go back and do those old things. That's what he's saying.

29:34And this leads to our final reason. Our final reason that we're going to put our sins to death. We've seen that they're earthly. We've seen that they're despised, that they displease the Lord. We've seen that they're old. And finally, our last one is that they're out of place. They're out of place. They don't fit in. The new man. Look at verse 11. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave-free, but Christ is all and in all.

30:18Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave-free, but Christ is all and in all. So I think that this verse is continuing the context of verses 8 and 9, the way that they're treating each other, the way that they're talking to each other. Are you talking angry to the people in your church? He's telling the Colossians that they can't treat each other poorly like that. They can't be malicious. They can't lie to one another because they are new. And so none of these old definitions work for them anymore. At least not entirely.

30:58They aren't just Greeks anymore. They can't just make fun of other people because they're Jews. They can't just treat people poorly because they're barbarians or they're Scythians, even worse, right? They can't treat each other like that. Instead, their identity has been changed along with everybody else in their church that now they are Christ's. Sure, they're a Greek still, but the truth. Is that they are Christ's. That is their main identity. And so it's out of place for them to act in these ways. It doesn't fit.

31:39Not only that, but Christ is in them. And so it doesn't make sense on either end. Listen to this. I think what he's saying is it doesn't make sense, number one, for the Colossian guy who is going to be malicious and angry or put these sins back on. It doesn't make sense for him because he is Christ's and he has Christ in him. That's what it says. Christ is all and in all. So it doesn't make sense for him to do those things, but it also doesn't make sense on the other end because this person is Christ's and Christ is in him. So on the one hand, it doesn't fit for this Colossian to act in that way. On the other hand, it doesn't fit for this person to be the recipient of those things. So it really doesn't fit. And this same idea applies to us in this room. For those of us who have trusted in Christ, we are Christ's and Christ is in us. And so, number one, it doesn't make sense for us personally to do, to act in that way, but also it doesn't make sense for us to treat anybody that way because they are Christ's.

32:50He's not saying that all distinctions have been erased. He's not saying that, you know, we're all the same person now. No, we. We all have different roles and abilities and things like that. But superseding any of these old identities is our new creation identity, that we are new in Christ and Christ is in us. And so it's out of place for us to treat each other poorly. Now, just as a side note, this only makes sense.

33:28These commands only make sense under the assumption that the Colossians are spending a lot of time together. You know, some of you might be thinking, these commandments are easy. I don't even know anybody in this room, right? Why would I be angry at them? You know, why would I lie to them? I hardly know them. And maybe you've been slipping in and out of church for the past month, coming in real quick and leaving real quick after, so you don't know anybody. Well, I think that that just exposes another problem, right? The expectation here is that we're spending enough time together in fellowship to ruffle each other's feathers. We're spending enough time together to where maybe these commandments are a little bit hard sometimes. Maybe our brother will do something that tempts us to be angry. And so we need to get past that and love each other. So only. Then can these commandments make sense. But for those of you who are spending time with the body, who are fellowshipping with your brothers and sisters, take heed to this reason: that it doesn't fit for you to do these things, for you to sin in this way. You're new. Your brothers and sisters in Christ are new, and so this doesn't belong.

34:52So, Paul says in this passage that we're supposed to be pure. We're not supposed to be sexually immoral. He says we're supposed to be content. We're not supposed to be covetous and idolatrous. We're supposed to be kind to each other, not malicious and angry. We're supposed to tell the truth, not lies. All of these things belong to our old self, belong to the earthly. They're earthly, they're despised by God, they're old, they're out of place. And when we come to a passage like this, for the Christians in the room, for the non-Christians, I just call you again to want that new life, to see that you also can be born again to that new life in Christ. But for the Christians in the room, when we come to an application like this to put our sins to death, I think that most of us can be split up into two groups.

36:06Some of you might be immediately aware of some sins that you need to take care of. These have been on your mind. You've already been struggling with them, maybe for a long time. Sinful anger, lustful passions, covetousness. But maybe the rest of you, you can't identify immediately some sins that you need to put to death. There's nothing necessarily that you've been struggling for a long time with that you're ready to just put to death. And that's probably a good thing, right? If it's harder for you to pin those down. And so I think the application for these people in this group, that maybe you can't find something immediate, I think the application of this passage is for you to look hard, for you to work hard, and see if there's something that's out of place in your life. See if there's something that's old. Pay attention. Is there something earthly? Is there something that was part of your old clothes?

37:08Search it out and put it to death with joy and excitement. But for the rest of you, those of you who are dealing with the sin, maybe you've been feeling like you're trapped in it for a long time, the application is for you to put it to death. Obey and put it to death. Put it away. Keep the old clothes off. It's not a call for you to ease out of those sins little by little. The call is for you to put it to death and kill it. And maybe you've been trying this, but you're discouraged. Maybe you've been trying this, and I just encourage you to get back in the fight. You know, sometimes when you are dealing with a sin like that and you feel the temptation, excuse me, you feel the temptation come again, it can feel like this whirlpool to our flesh. That's what it feels like: this whirlpool that's sucking us down. There's no way we can get out. There's no escape. But what does God's word say? There is an escape. Right? And we can sometimes make this big, huge deal that we can't avoid this sin. But I just encourage you to lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees and be encouraged that He has given us reasons. And maybe the reasons that, or maybe the way you can get out of that sin, even this week, is to remember these reasons. Paul is saying, Your knowledge will help. If you truly are working to meditate on and understand who you are in Christ, this is going to help. So think about it. Why would you want to be earthly when you're waiting for your hope from heaven? If all your hope is in heaven, why would you want to be earthly? Why would you want to do the things that displease the God you love? If these are the very things that make him angry and you love God, why would you want to do something that makes him angry?

39:19He doesn't like those things. Why would you want to revert to what you once were? You're new. You're not old. Why would you want to go back to those old things? Why would you want to do things that don't fit in to your new self, things that are out of place? Those are some of the reasons that he's given us, and I think it's a blessing. I think that when you're tempted, you can remember those reasons. They're simple. He's laid it out for us clearly because we're simple-minded, especially when we're being tempted. We can be very simple-minded, and so it's a blessing that we can set our minds on the things above, remember what God has done, remember who we truly are, and be done with those old things, put them to death. Let's pray. Father, we've been blessed to study these things together at Mancamp. We've been blessed to study them from your word this morning that you have truly changed a Christian.

40:31If someone has truly believed in you, trusted in what Christ has done on the cross, trusted that our sin can be paid for and atoned, and put all their hope in you, when people do that, you change them, you make them new. And I pray, Lord, that we would be encouraged even today to put our sin to death. I pray that we would be joyful in obedience at finding sin, something out of place, something earthly, and putting that to death. And I pray for those that are struggling and discouraged in a dark place. I pray, Lord, that you would encourage them and help them with joy to simply run through some of these reasons that Paul gives, some of these truths, and with joy, be obedient and put sin to death. We thank you, Father, for your word. We pray that you'd help us remember your word this week and be eager to study more about it, to be eager to obey it, eager to understand it and grow in that knowledge that Paul says is going to guard us from deceptive teaching. We're grateful, Lord, for our church, for our brothers and sisters in Christ. We're grateful for our loving fellowship that we'll get to experience even tonight as we come back and enjoy one another. And I pray, Lord, that we'd encourage one another in Jesus' name. Amen.