-The way we were, but are no longer! We were sons of disobedience, we walked and conducted ourselves in disobedience, we lived there, in that place of moral squalor and filth. We were completely unable to not sin, unable to avoid it, unable to do anything at all to curry favor with almighty God, to please Him in any respect. We were objects of wrath, enslaved to me-first me-better, centered on self, occasionally able to extricate ourselves from this slummy prison long enough to engage in some form of altruism, but the gravitas of self is a black hole which invariably sucked us back in, no escape, no hope. This was once our life. Once. But these things are now in our past, passed by and out of existence. Irrelevant. So - why even bring it up?
-It could be because these believers are still living there to some extent, that Paul is telling them to move beyond that way of living and thinking by reminding them in no uncertain terms that this is no longer who you are. But more importantly we talk about the past and what has passed because it fosters gratitude and it provides perspective. We can and should be and need to be constantly grateful for our deliverance from death, our rescue from both the power and the penalty of sin, never forgetting or taking that for granted. And we need perspective on how far we’ve come, and on who we are. We are no longer sons and daughters of disobedience, no longer enslaved to sin - that’s who we were - once. But they has passed away and new things have come (2Corinthians 5.17)! Now we have a completely new identity (Colossians 3.10), we are children of God, adopted into His forever family, and we are free to live with Him and for Him, to live a life that actually pleases Him, the way we were designed to live in the first place. This is who we are, who we were always meant to be. And remembering who we are not (any longer) helps us stay more focused on who we are.
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