“Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;”

Because of what Paul is saying about Christ, His appearing and our future glorified life with Him, we should put away all sinful lifestyle choices. We shut the door on our fleshly desires and put on the spiritual desires of Christ. The physical part of us must die to the desires of self, and be given as a sacrifice of praise to the Saviour and Lord, as He sacrificed Himself for us and gave Himself to save us from certain death. Our souls need to be saved from the clinging sins that would dull down the beauty of spiritual life and drag us into darkness. We offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God which is our spiritual worship.

“I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.”

Romans 12:1

Paul gives us a list to direct our efforts into the following of the command.

Sexual immorality must be put to the death in our minds and bodies. We turn away from feeding the flesh and seeking sexual gratification. It starts in the minds and the body follows. If our mind is set on Christ we will not succumb to the desires of the body and our cravings will cease and we will be kept pure. God gave marriage as the remedy for this set of sins and the chaste relationship of one man and one woman, living together in harmony in every part of their lives.

To live a clean life is to live to God and put away all the cravings of the fleshly life and the pursuit of ungodly ways. It means living in the power of the Spirit of God and not depending on any outside source for satisfaction. Staying away from all substance abuse, even our food and drink, and living temporal lives for God.

All depravity of every kind is far away from the mind of the Christian. We are careful what we watch and the material we put into our minds that would sully the purity of the Spirit and lead us away from the clean life lived for God.

All the range of evil desires will then be kept at bay and we will follow the Lord in our lifestyle and in every choice that we must make. Our desires will be for the ways of God and not after the evil walk of the people who are caught up in this world. Our choices will be centred on the reality of the coming kingdom and the glory that will be revealed when this present life is over. God will make all things new and put all that is wrong to flight and make it right.

All our desire will be for the will of God and not to possess the goods of this life, seeking satisfaction in this life and not in God, which is the root of covetousness. All these considerations are idolatry and display a general hunger for the life on earth and not the spiritual life that God require or offers to us. We can be altogether too caught up with the things of this life and lose out on spiritual blessings. The flesh wars against the soul, and we must fight its effect and desires, which will one day pass away.