When reading and studying the Bible, it is quite helpful to pay close attention to verbs. In this passage, Paul used both past tense and present tense verbs for good reason.

The imperatives (which tell us to do something)—“put to death” and “put away,” for example—are commands to obey today, thus the use of present tense. Believers must actively strive, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to rid ourselves of the evil desires associated with the things of this world. But these imperatives have much more weight and meaning because of two past-tense verbs—“have put off” and “have put on.” On the day we believed in Jesus for our salvation, we experienced an exchange: a new self for the old self. Believers work to put to death the deeds of the flesh because we are new people. Living out our faith is living rightly as our new selves in Christ rather than wrongly as our old, dead selves of the flesh.

With your eyes on Christ, what steps will you take to put to death your evil desires?