3:5 Put to death. The first of a series of behavioral imperatives that continue through 4:6. Although Paul rejects legalistic asceticism, he calls upon believers to become in practice what they are in principle: dead to sin and alive to God (Rom. 6:1–14). There is a way of living incompatible with life in Christ, and Paul calls for a rigorous departure from that old life. In v. 5 he lists five vices; four have to do with sex, the fifth is covetousness; in v. 8 he lists five more vices, all having to do with anger and abusive speech.