PUT OFF. Colossians 3:5-11 Being dead to the world while still living in it is not as impossible as we might think. The apostle Paul teaches in a practical way what it means to be dead to the world and alive in Christ. There are things we must deliberately put off, even to the point of “mortifying (put to death) our members.” The physical bodies of believers have not been made new, even though we have been given life in our spirits, which were dead to God, and have been “born again” in our souls (personhood) and made a new creation in Christ Jesus.
Our behavior as Christians should match our beliefs. What we believe is shown in our daily lives, including our personal, family, church, and public conduct. Our actions must support our doctrine. Our perspective and practices as believers need to be in harmony. The way we speak must align with our actions. Heaven is our home, but for now, we live and work on earth to represent our risen and future Lord Jesus Christ.
When those who belong to Christ live consciously in union with Him, their confession of faith and the fact that we have died, been buried, and risen with Him will not require much explanation to those who observe our way of life. We live by dying to the world, and in dying to the world, living with Christ will be evident through moral purity, care, and love in our relationships with our family, fellow believers, and others in general.
When we see needs that we can meet, we gladly do so. The old life, in which our “member’s” attitudes and actions were meant to please the sinful flesh, is considered dead as the “old man”—self-centered, unregenerate, and unfit to please God. That is to be “put off”—done away with—not only in actions but also in attitudes when our new nature is yielded to the Holy Spirit.