“So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world.”
Colossians 3:5-7 NLT
When a person becomes saved, they enter into their discipleship as freshly minted Christians but not as completely new people. They still carry all the baggage, practices and ideologies that they have learned as they arrived at their moment of salvation. Because of this, becoming a Christian is easy, but living as one can be difficult. The nature of living as a Christian is, in this passage, summarized by Paul as putting off your old ways. For many believers, this may come as somewhat of a shock. Many modern believers have been inundated with the sensibility that the self must be affirmed. In fact, this is one of western culture’s highest virtues. But in Christ, the self must be tamed and made to conform to his image. His salvation is the turning point at which a radical transformation away from self begins. A lack of transformation away from self is why so many believers “fall away,” from the faith. It is also why John notes that “they were never really of us.”
JOSH McGARY. COM 