Rightly Dividing Man - The Flesh Part 5
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth. (Colossians 3:5, RV)
Make dead, therefore, your members that are on the earth. (Colossians 3:5, Rotherham)
In Part 4, James established the fact that the passions and cravings resident in the Christian’s body strive for sensual pleasures. In James, the fruit of those strivings was infighting and quarreling within the local church. Here in Colossians, Paul instructs believers to “mortify” or “make dead” their members. With the understanding of James, we see that Paul is speaking of the body’s sensual cravings and desires, not the members themselves. (cf. Romans 6:13 - present your members as instruments of righteousness).
The word “mortify” is a little blind to us today for it is an old English term. Another way to phrase νεκρωσατε τα μελη (necrosate ta mele) may be “render corpse-like.” This idea is consistent with Romans 4:19 which uses the same root to describe Abraham’s thinking of his own body. When God appeared to him and spoke about a son of promise, Abraham thought of his body “as good as dead,” or impotent (his physical capabilities had ended). Construing this idea with Colossians, Paul says to “render corpse-like” the passions that dwell in our members (our earthly body).
This verse also stands in stark contrast to much of what we see in modern Christianity. The subject of the sentence is the implied “you.” Paul therein puts the responsibility of rendering impotent the lusts of the flesh upon the believer, not the Lord. Modern-day ministries, however, reverse the responsibilities. For instance, many churches and ministries have adopted a popular 12-step program that is characterized as Bible-based. The first 7 steps (which are fungible from church to church) go something like this:
1. Admit that you are powerless over ____ (whatever the support group is about).
2. Believe that God can restore “the sanity.”
3. Turn your will and life over to the care of God.
4. Make a searching inventory of yourself.
5. Admit to God, yourself and others the exact nature of your wrongdoing.
6. Be ready for God remove all of the flaws of character.
7. Ask God to remove your shortcomings.
In the 12 steps, the responsibility for “cleaning up” the believer is God. God is supposed to restore the sanity. God is going to remove shortcomings (whatever they are). Colossians 3:5, in contradiction, puts the responsibility (all of it) on the believer. Herein lies the strength and truth of the Faith Message. By virtue of the finished redemptive work of Christ and the New Birth, the Christian may exercise dominion over his own members.