Victory over sin is a result of the work of God: “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12-13). Yet this does not mean that man’s efforts are unimportant. Christians must work out their salva­tion with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12).

God is always the sanctifier of His people. Yet God does not overcome our sin apart from us, but rather by working in us. And it is His working in us that makes our efforts successful.

The apostle Paul was speaking to all of us when he said:

Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. Put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth (Col. 3:5, 8).

 

What does Paul mean when he commands us to mortify (or kill) our sin? Let’s begin by considering what he does not mean. He does not mean that we are to eradicate sin or to eradicate our evil desires to the extent that they will never trouble us again.

There are some who would have us believe that if we apply a certain formula, if we say the right prayers and go to the right places and do the right things, our sin nature can be completely removed—eradicated forever. However, this view is contrary both to experience and to Scripture.

The Bible does not teach sinless perfection here on this earth. It was the apostle Paul who said in Philippians 3:12, “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”

When Paul made this statement, he had been a Christian for almost thirty years. The record of his life indicated that he had lived as close to the Lord as any man could live. Now he was in prison and knew that he might be put to death. Yet Paul declared that he was not perfect.

Again in 1 Timothy 1:15, Paul wrote, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.” Notice that he did not say “among whom I was foremost of all.”

The apostle John also said, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:8–10).

So the Bible makes it clear that until the day we die, we will have a problem with evil desires. Therefore, when the apostle Paul said to “put to death therefore what is earthly in you,” he was not talking about the complete eradication of all our evil desires. What, then, did he mean?

What Putting Sin to Death Means

 

1. Depriving our evil desires of their strength and of their power. To mortify or kill sin means to deaden or deprive it of power (see Amplified Bible). Perhaps you can recall a great area of sin in your life that today is not as great a problem as it once was—a problem with pride, anger, a sharp tongue, evil thoughts, or loose living. The problem is still there and, if allowed, could become as great as before, but it has been deprived or robbed of its power.

One man told me that he used to have a tremendous problem with his temper. He would fly into a rage and begin to use his fists. Today he would admit that if he were not careful, he would still have that same problem. That old evil desire is still there, but now it is largely under control.

The same thing is true with others in reference to pride, alcohol, or sexual immorality. They don’t have the problems with these things that they once had. This is in part what Paul is talking about when he says to consider evil desires as dead. We should do everything we can to rob these evil desires of their power.

2. Fighting against those evil desires. In at least thirty different places in Paul’s writings, he says we ought to fight, wrestle, and strive against evil desires. In other words, we ought to be at war with them. For example, Ephesians 6:10–13 says:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

 

Likewise, 1 Timothy 6:12 challenges us, “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.” Indeed, the Christian life is a fight. It is the good fight of faith whereby we lay hold of eternal life.

If anyone thinks that the Christian life is easy, he knows very little about it. In fact, it is doubtful that he is a Christian at all, because the Christian life from its conception to its consummation is a battle. It is a life-and-death struggle with the world, the flesh, and the devil.

In 2 Timothy 2:3–5, Paul encouraged us, “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.”

In 1 Corinthians 16:13 he cries out, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” These are military terms. The Christian is to fight, he is to battle, he is to wrestle, he is to struggle against the evil desires that lurk within, which would lead him into sin. This is part of what it means to consider ourselves dead to evil desires.

3. Overcoming particular evil desires. In Colossians 3:8 Paul wrote, “But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.” When the temptation comes for me to sin—to lose my temper, to harbor bitterness in my heart toward another person, or to use abusive talk about another person—and I, by the grace of God, am able to overcome it, in that instance I have killed that evil desire.

In 1 Peter 2:11 Peter said, “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” When I, by the grace of God, am made able to abstain from a fleshly lust that arises and wages war against my soul, I have killed that particular fleshly lust. To consider ourselves as dead to these evil desires, therefore, means to overcome them as they come to tempt us.

The Gospel for Real Life

 

Jerry Bridges’ The Gospel for Real Life contains a particularly helpful section for understanding the basis and importance of putting sin to death in our daily lives. Bridges writes:

We [as believers] have died not only to sin’s guilt, but also to its reigning power in our lives. . . .

We are united to Christ, and His Holy Spirit has come to reside in us. We have been delivered from the power of Satan and given a new heart (see Ezekiel 36:26; Acts 26:18). However, as believers we do experience the tension [between the flesh and the Spirit] Paul describes in Galatians 5:17. . . .

George Smeaton described this tension in this way: there is an internal conflict between the flesh and spirit—between an old nature and new nature . . . like two conflicting armies occupying the same ground, and in turn driven from the field.

Another way of describing this tension between the sinful nature and the Spirit is to liken it to a tug of war. With two opposing teams pulling on the rope, its direction of movement often goes back and forth until one team eventually prevails. This is the way it will be with us until the Holy Spirit prevails.

We must acknowledge this tension if we are to make progress in the Christian life. Indwelling sin is like a disease that we can’t begin to deal with until we acknowledge its presence. But in the case of sin, though it still resides in us, it no longer has dominion over us. As Paul said, “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14).

Therefore, because we have the assurance that sin shall not be our master, we are not to let it reign in our mortal bodies so that we obey its evil desires (Romans 6:12). Rather we are, by the enabling power of the Spirit, to put to death the misdeeds of the body (Romans 8:13), and to abstain from sinful desires, which war against our souls (1 Peter 2:11). Indeed, we are called to an active, vigorous warfare against the principle of sin that remains in us.[i]

 

In this quotation, Bridges uses some analogies to help us understand what it means to put evil desires and deeds to death. First, he uses the analogy from George Smeaton about two conflicting armies competing for the same territory. The sin principle within us still attempts to take over the whole territory of our lives, and we must actively fight against it to overcome it.

The second analogy Bridges uses is that of a tug-of-war. He suggests that within real Christians, there remains a sin principle that will tug at us to fulfill its desires in doing what is sinful.

Finally, Bridges uses the analogy of a disease. He compares this remaining sin principle within Christians to a disease and indicates that we cannot and will not be able to successfully deal with it until we recognize its presence and take appropriate measures.

The sin principle to which Bridges refers is what theologians such as John Owen call “indwelling sin.” In our union with Christ, its power has been demolished, but not its entire presence and influence. So we can and we must fight it by the power of the Holy Spirit, using the procedures laid out in God’s Word.

This struggle with sin will go on throughout our entire lives. The war has been won through the death and resurrection of Christ and our union with Him, but there will still be battles with indwelling sin that we must fight as long as we are in this world.

Because of our union with Christ and the indwelling presence of the powerful Holy Spirit, we do not have to lose the battles—sin will no more have dominion over us. Nevertheless, we cannot avoid the necessity of regularly and frequently fighting those battles. The necessity of putting evil desires and deeds to death will require our constant attention.