Put to death what is earthly in you. That is a strong call to set aside our base desires and present our bodies as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1). The desires Paul is speaking of center around physical pleasures including sexual practice that serves only our pleasure and goes against God’s design for marriage (Heb 13:4), moral corruption, and greed (which is idolatry because it seeks satisfaction in things rather than in God). These are the things that invoke God’s wrath (Rom 1:18-25). Culture tries to normalise this kind of behaviour but it will never be acceptable in God’s sight. Before salvation, we may have seen that kind of behaviour as acceptable but now we are to turn away from that way of living. But the list goes on. There are other things we should get rid of like we would discard dirty clothes. These habits are unbecoming of Christians. Anger (smoldering hatred), wrath (angry outbursts), malice (harmful intent towards others), slander (obscene speech aimed at another), and obscene talk (filthy language). Christians should never lie, especially not to one another (Eph 4:25), because we are followers of the One who is truth (John 14:6). Everything Paul has listed is inappropriate behaviour for a believer because we have become a new creation in Christ. We have a choice to make. We can continue to wear the old sinful self with its sinful desires (which is not who we are anymore) or we can choose to discard that and put on our new self with its new way of life. Putting on the new self is a continual process of renewal that is found in a growing knowledge of Christ (2 Cor 4:16; Rom 12:2; Eph 4:23). This renewal is available to all believers no matter their national, religious, cultural, economic, or social background because Christ is all in all. Human-defined distinctions are removed in our unity under Christ.

What does your spiritual clothing look like? Are you wearing the old, smelly clothes of your former self or are you clothed in the pure white of your new self in the image of Christ who redeemed you?