“In which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.”
In which you yourselves once walked
The Colossians characteristically committed the five sins of verse 5 before becoming Christians. That is why it is crucial to put the sins of that verse to death. Christians must kill, not wound, sins such as immorality and covetousness in their walk with God.
when you lived in them
Those were the days Christians walked in the “will of the Gentiles” (1 Pe 4:3). Living in sin was our thought and behavior pattern.
PRINCIPLE:
It is difficult to walk in the presence of evil and not fellowship with it.
APPLICATION:
It is as difficult to walk across the Red River Valley’s gumbo mud of Manitoba without it sticking to our feet as walking in the presence of evil and not sin. The course of life we choose will determine the pattern of life we live. If we walk with those who practice the sins of verse 5, there is a great chance we will revert to those sins again.
We are no longer what we once were. We have come to fellowship with Jesus, the Lord. That is why sin does not dominate us anymore (Rom 6:14). We have a new life and, therefore, new power.
Christians sin, but it is like the difference between falling on a ship’s deck and falling overboard. There is a big difference between falling into sin and living in sin. That is the difference between sheep and swine. Sheep may fall into the mud, but they get out as quickly as possible. Mud is adverse to his character.
