There are two things that will rob us of our freedom in Christ. One is legalism. If we insist on writing laws for ourselves, or submitting to the manmade laws of others we end up focusing on the “have to’s” of life rather than the “want to’s.” We build another man made system of do’s and don’t’s which simply rob us of our freedom. That’s how Paul ended Chapter 2. In chapter 3 he encourages us to avoid the enslavement of the second thing; licentiousness. Sin is another great task master. When we surrender ourselves to sin we become its slave and we lose our freedom.
Paul attacks such vices in verse 5. He says, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Idolatry is putting something in God’s place in our lives, or serving the wrong master. We are to be servants (slaves) of Christ. Paul refers to himself that way many times in his writings. When Jesus sat his apostles down he once informed them, who argued about greatness, that the greatest was the one who would be the “servant of all.”
Martin Lloyd-Jones said, “If you are a Christian, you are a servant of God, you are the slave, the ‘bond slave of Christ’, even as was this mighty Apostle. Show it in your work, show it in everything you do — in your home, in your pleasure, in your recreation, at your lunch, at your tea, everywhere, always, let this come out. So you will realize that, whatever your calling, whatever your lot or position in life, it is a glorious one.”
Chuck
“…seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices…put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” Colossians 3:9-10