Colossians 3:5 ESV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Colossians 3:5-7

The apostle exhorts the Colossians to the mortification of sin, the great hindrance to seeking the things which are above. Since it is our duty to set our affections upon heavenly things, it is our duty to mortify our members which are upon the earth, and which naturally incline us to the things of the world: ?Mortify them, that is, subdue the vicious habits of mind which prevailed in your Gentile state. Kill them, suppress them, as you do weeds or vermin which spread and destroy all about... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Colossians 3:5-9

3:5-9a So, then, put to death these parts of you which are earthly-- fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, the desire to get more than you ought--for this is idol worship; and because of these things the wrath of God comes upon those who are disobedient. It was amongst these things that you once spent your lives; when you lived among them; but now you must divest yourselves of all these things--anger, temper, malice, slander, foul talk which issues from your mouth. Do not lie to one... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Colossians 3:5-9

In Colossians 3:8 Paul says that there are certain things of which the Colossians must strip themselves. The word he uses is the word for putting off clothes. There is here a picture from the life of the early Christian. When the Christian was baptized, he put off his old clothes when he went down into the water and when he emerged he put on a new and pure white robe. He divested himself of one kind of life and put on another. In this passage Paul speaks of the things of which the Christian... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Colossians 3:5

Mortify therefore your members ,.... Not your bodies, as the Ethiopic version reads, nor the members of the natural body, but of the body of sin, indwelling sin; which as a body consists of various members, which are parts of it, rise out of it, and are used by it, as the members are by the body; and intend the sins of the flesh, or sinful actions, which are generally performed by the members of the natural body, in which the law of sin is, and by which it operates; so that the mortification... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Colossians 3:5

Mortify, therefore, you members - Νεκρωσατε· Put them to death: the verb is used metaphorically to signify, to deprive a thing of its power, to destroy its strength. Use no member of your body to sin against God; keep all under dominion; and never permit the beast to run away with the man. To gratify any sensual appetite is to give it the very food and nourishment by which it lives, thrives, and is active. However the body may suffer by excessive sensual indulgences, the appetite increases... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Colossians 3:5

Verse 5 5.Mortify therefore. Hitherto he has been speaking of contempt of the world. He now proceeds further, and enters upon a higher philosophy, as to the mortification of the flesh. That this may be the better understood, let us take notice that there is a twofold mortification. The former relates to those things that are around us. Of this he has hitherto treated. The other is inward — that of the understanding and will, and of the whole of our corrupt nature. He makes mention of certain... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 3:1-17

SECTION VII . THE TRUE CHRISTIAN LIFE . The apostle, having delivered his attack on the system of error inculcated at Colossae, now passes from the controversial to the more practical purport of his letter. There is no break, however, in the current of his thought; for throughout this chapter he urges the pursuit of a practical Christian life in a sense and in a manner silently opposed to the tendencies of Gnosticizing error. How much more congenial was the task to which he now... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 3:1-17

The true Christian life. From above only can we be raised. There is no salvation in mere antipathy. Disgust at the vanities of life, repulsion from earthly things, will of itself never lift us beyond them; it needs the superior influence of heavenly things to do that. This the Colossian errorists did not rightly understand; or they could not have made ceremonial purifications and bodily austerities the way of holiness, the means of reaching spiritual perfection. "Touch not, taste not" ( ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 3:5

Make dead, therefore, the (or, your ) members that are upon the earth ( Colossians 2:11 ; Colossians 3:9 ; Ephesians 4:21 , Ephesians 4:22 ; Philippians 3:19 ; Romans 6:6 ; Romans 8:13 ; Romans 13:14 ). "Your" is omitted by most textual critics, but English idiom requires it in translation. In its absence a stronger emphasis falls on the defining clause, "that are upon the earth." As these things may no longer be pursued or studied ( Colossians 3:1 , Colossians 3:2... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 3:5-7

The duty of mortifying the old man. The apostle proceeds to deduce the practical consequences of our "death in Christ" in the mortifying of tendencies to impurity, covetousness, malice, and falsehood. "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, lustfulness, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." I. THE NATURE AND DUTY OF MORTIFICATION . 1 . Its nature. It is to resist the solicitations of sin, to suppress its first... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Colossians 3:5-7

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Colossians 3:5-9

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Colossians 3:5-9

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Colossians 3:5

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Colossians 3:5

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Colossians 3:5

The Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 3:1-17

The Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 3:1-17

The Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 3:5

The Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 3:5-7

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