"Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience:
In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy,
filthy communication out of your mouth.
Lie not one to another, seeing ye have put off the old man with his deeds;"
Colossians 3:5-9
Now we are getting down to the nitty gritty, sin, the old woman, our flesh. You know, the stuff we really do not like to talk about. Unfortunately, the Christian walk is not always roses and sun beams. I truly don't want to be a "Debbie Downer". The Christians life is FULL of AMAZING blessings, but if you don't think you will ever have to deal with your flesh or another Christian's flesh, you are in for a BIG surprise. It is also why we are given this command in this passage of Scripture. (And I am sure you are still wondering how my crazy title fits in--patience grasshopper!)
" Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:" -verse five
What does mortify mean? According to the Webster's 1828 dictionary, mortify means to subdue by self denial or discipline; to abase; to reduce; to restrain. We are to mortify our "members which are upon the earth". At this point I would really like to clarify that this is not referring to family members, church members, or any other members of any other membership you may belong to, but rather this is referring to your flesh, sin nature, old woman. Although salvation saves us from hell and cleanseth us from all unrighteousness, our nature to sin or our flesh remains and we enter into a daily struggle that Paul lays out sooo clearly in Romans 7:14 -23: (she says with a hint of sarcasm)
14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Now that you are completely confused, read it again but slower and following all those reading rules your teacher taught you in school. Pause for the commas, semi-colons, and colons, then stop for the periods!! :) If you have come this far, you have earned the right to know why I picked this title.
"Whack-A-Mole! Come play Whack-A-Mole, " yelled the very persuasive and quite hilarious game worker. With the ding of the bell the game began, little plastic moles popping up out of little round holes and I with my squishy mallet in hand. WHACK!! WHACK!! WHACK!! on those little moles' heads as they quickly popped in an out!! The buzzer blared and the game seemed over before it began, and to the victor went the spoils!!
Yes, I was a Whack-A-Mole Champion and I have this picture and that crazy squid hat to prove it!! :)
However, are we a Whack-A-Mole Champion with our old woman/flesh? When our flesh pops up do we WHACK it down with the powerful mallet of Scripture? Do we MORTIFY our flesh?
Look at the list we are commanded to mortify with Webster's 1828 dictionary definitions:
Fornication - The incontinence or lewdness of unmarried persons; male or female; adultery; incest; idolatry
Uncleanness - Moral impurity; defilement by sin; sinfulness
Inordinate Affection - Disorderly or excessive desire
Evil Concupiscence - lust; the coveting of carnal things; irregular appetite for worldly goods
Covetousness - A strong or inordinate desire of obtaining and possessing some supposed good
Idolatry - Excessive attachment or veneration (in awe; highest respect) for any thing, or that which borders on adoration
Then in the middle of the list, we are reminded (in case we forgot) that these things do not please the Lord. In fact they quite displease Him, so WHACK-A-MOLE!!
"For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience (the unsaved):
In the which ye (Christians) also walked (past tense) some time, when ye (Christians) lived
(past tense) in them (when you were unsaved)."
Then the list goes on and this half of the list may hit a little closer to home...
"But NOW (present tense) ye (Christians) also put off (mortify) all these;
anger - a violent passion of the mind excited by a real or supposed injury
wrath - violent anger with disgust in action
malice - a disposition to injure others without cause, for mere personal gratification or from a spirit of revenge
blasphemy - reproachful, contemptuous or irreverent words uttered profanely against Jehovah
filthy communication out of your mouth - gossip
Lie not one to another..."
BUT WHY? Why do we mortify, subdue, abase, or as I like to call it, Whack-A-Mole our old woman? Because we BECAME A CHRISTIAN!!
"...seeing ye (Christians) have put off the old man with his deeds;"
As I have said before, it is easier to say you're a Christian then to be a Christian. When that old woman rears her ugly head, WHACK it down!! That old ugly woman will hang around if you let her, however, according to God's Word it is IMPERATIVE that we MORTIFY our flesh! Whack-The- Old Woman, Whack-A-Sin, WHACK-THE-FLESH!! Every time and FAST!!
Be a Whack-A Mole Champion! Be Teachable!
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