Daily Bread - APR/02/07

Colossians 3:5 - Therefore put to death your members which are upon the earth fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil desires, covetousness which is idolatry.

Members (melos) may be used of either the physical parts or the spiritual parts of man. Our members may be yielded to God and used as weapons of righteousness or to sin as weapons of unrighteousness (Romans 6:13; 1 Corinthians 6:15). In the spiritual dimension, man's members refer to his attitudes, affections, emotions, passions, and thoughts. We may also think of our unseen members as the spirit, soul, mind, heart, will, conscience, and thought. In this passage, earthly members are identified as fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affections, evil desires, and covetousness.

When the power of sin would attempt to influence us we are to yield our members unto God as weapons of righteousness. By the act of yielding our members to God those evil things that would attempt to work in our members through the power of sin are destroyed. All that is in the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life will war against us, but as we allow the Holy Spirit to wield our members as weapons of righteousness the power of sin cannot exercise dominion over us (Romans 6:7; 12; 1 Peter 2:1) .

When the physical member the eye looks and beholds that which the realm of sin would turn into adultery or fornication, Jesus said it would be better to pluck it out so that such influence would not lead the whole body into eternal destruction (Matthew 5:29). In this sense, Paul is addressing the church into absolute conformity to God's rule. Therefore, the members must be put to death that would cause an offense. Not that God would require self-mutilation but an absolute conformity to His word. An excellent example of this is given by the Theological Dictionary with regard to the disposition that God's people should have toward the things they speak, "This means that the sinful use of the tongue, being radically condemned to death, can have no more place" (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. S. 4:565). Paul takes us one step further with our members and reveals to us that our members are joined to one another and unto Christ (1 Corinthians 6:15, 17; Ephesians 5:30; John 6:56; 14:20, 23; 15:5; 17:11, 21-23, 26; Colossians 1:27; 1 John 3:24; 4:13, 15-16; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; 2 Timothy 1:14; Romans 8:9-11).

Keeping in mind that Paul likens our members to slaves and the slaves can only do what their master allows (Romans 6:19). As the redeemed of the Lord, our Master Christ Jesus rules over us in righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17-18). God has called us to set all of our affections on things above and not on things of this earth. Sin would like to play its melody (melos) in our members but the people of God are to only yield their members to the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Blessings,

Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
abidingplace.org